Golden State star Stephen Curry could only watch as the Minnesota Timberwolves took advantage of his absence and beat the Warriors to even up their NBA playoff series.
Julius Randle scored 24 points, Anthony Edwards and Nickeil Alexander-Walker each scored 20, the Timberwolves ran out to a 13-0 lead and never trailed on their way to a 117-93 win. The Wolves and Warriors are now tied at a game apiece heading into Game 3 on Saturday night in San Francisco.
There are two games on Friday: Indiana can try to take a stunning 3-0 lead over top-seeded Cleveland in their Eastern Conference semifinal, while top-seeded Oklahoma City and Denver play Game 3 of their West semifinal series — that matchup knotted at 1-1.
Friday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7:30 p.m. — Cleveland at Indiana (ESPN)
10 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Denver (ESPN)
Saturday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
3:30 p.m. — Boston at New York (ABC)
8:30 p.m. — Minnesota at Golden State (ABC)
Sunday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
3:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Denver (ABC)
8 p.m. — Cleveland at Indiana (TNT)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+120) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed by Boston (+350).
Cleveland and Minnesota (both +900) are next, followed by New York (+1200), Indiana (+1400), Denver (+1700) and Golden State (+3000).
Award season
There's no word yet on when the NBA will announce this season's MVP. It'll be Oklahoma City's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Denver's Nikola Jokic or Milwaukee's Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Also coming in the next few weeks: the All-NBA, All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
Other awards so far:
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year. He also won the same award from the National Basketball Coaches Association.
— Boston's Jrue Holiday wins the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
38 — Luka Doncic, LA Lakers at Minnesota, April 27
38 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 26
38 — LeBron James, LA Lakers at Minnesota, April 25
38 — Jalen Green, Houston vs. Golden State, April 23
Key upcoming events
Monday — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 3 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Friday's games: Cavaliers-Pacers and Thunder-Nuggets.
— Draymond Green says he's tired of the way he believes he's portrayed.
— Tyrese Haliburton was willing to pay a fine. The NBA warned him instead.
— Want to go to Game 3 at Madison Square Garden? It'll cost you. Plenty.
— A wasted 20-point lead led to about a 20-mile walk for Paul Pierce.
— These are the playoffs of the big comeback, where no 20-point lead is safe.
— Gregg Popovich's new job: 'El Jefe'
— Spurs coach Gregg Popovich steps down.
— Mitch Johnson takes over for Pop in San Antonio.
— Appreciation: Gregg Popovich changed the NBA.
— Grizzlies promote Iisalo to head coach, remove interim tag.
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
Comeback season
There have been five wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
Stats of the day
— Golden State was scoreless for the first 4:55 of Game 2 in Minnesota on Tuesday. That was the longest scoreless drought by any team in a playoff game since Brooklyn needed 5:52 to score against Philadelphia on April 23, 2019.
— Teams scoring less than 100 points are now 6-23 in these playoffs. Teams scoring 120 points or more are 16-0 in these playoffs.
Quote of the day
“Hopefully I'll be back soon.” — Golden State's Stephen Curry, on his hamstring injury.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
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