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Philippines, 31 Jul 2025 |
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Minnesota, Indiana Back Again in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals By Teodoro Medina Reynoso PhilBoxing.com Thu, 15 May 2025  The Minnesota Timberwolves eliminated the Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors with a fifth-game 121-110 victory at the Target Center in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves thus joined the Indiana Pacers, also a 4-1 series victor over the Cleveland Cavaliers, as repeat finalists in the Western and Eastern Conferences, respectively, of the 2024-25 NBA season. It was the first back-to-back finals appearance in franchise history for the Timberwolves, which had fully taken advantage of the absence of Curry to sweep the next four games after dropping their opening game to the Warriors at the same venue. Indiana had earlier clinched a second consecutive Conference Finals appearance after drubbing Cleveland 114-105 the other day in the fifth game held in Cleveland. The Pacers swept the first two games in Cleveland and had to settle for a 1-1 split at home before putting away the Cavaliers in their own home arena. Minnesota has yet to await the winner of the other Western Conference semifinals series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Denver Nuggets, currently 3-2 in favor of the Thunder. Indiana is also awaiting the winner of the other Eastern Conference semifinals series between the New York Knicks and defending champion Boston Celtics, which earlier today defeated the Knicks 127-102 at their TD Garden arena to peg the series at 3-2 in favor of the Knicks. The Celtics got the crucial win despite playing without their top star scorer Jason Tatum, who was out due to injury. Last season, Minnesota advanced to the NBA Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Dallas Mavericks, then still powered by Luka Doncic, 4-1. Indiana, on the other hand, advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals after an arduous 4-3 semifinals series versus the Knicks and was swept, 4-0, by eventual champion Boston Celtics. The Timberwolves made sure of another trip to the Conference Finals versus the Warriors as Julius Randle not only stoutly supported star scorer Anthony Edwards in points production but also in defending against the Warriors' remaining star player, Jimmy Butler. Minnesota came off the block blazing and immediately posted huge leads in the first two quarters, on the way to a 62-47 halftime lead. With Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels joining the scoring parade, the Timberwolves' lead even ballooned to 93-72 by the end of the third period. The Timberwolves somewhat eased up in the final quarter and cruised to victory even as Butler, Draymond Green, Mike Podziemski, and Jonathan Kuminga desperately but vainly tried to rally the Warriors for a big wind-up. Randle topped Minnesota with 29 points. Edwards had a quiet 22 points, which was more than made up for by Rudy Gobert (17 points), Conley (16 points), and McDaniels (14 points). Donte DiVincenzo, Randle's former Knicks teammate, also had a good game, scattering 13 points. Brandin Podziemski led the Warriors with 28 points. He was supported by Jonathan Kuminga with 26 points. Butler was troubled by the Timberwolves' physical defense and could only put up 17 points. Green had 10 points, while Buddy Hield and Moses Moody tossed a total of 20 points. The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.  |
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