24-point defeat, where is the Warriors losing this game? Three major defeats are exposed, Cole may not have made a mistake

On May 9, 2025, this heartbreaking day for Warriors fans, the Golden State Warriors lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves with a huge gap of 93-117, and the series score was equalized to 1-1. Behind this failure, there are many deep reasons, which are worth our careful exploration.

First, core player Curry missed the game due to a strained left hamstring, which became the key fuse for this crushing defeat. As the Warriors' scoring champion and offensive core, Curry's existence is not only a scoring guarantee, but also the engine of the team's offensive system. After Curry was absent, the Warriors' offensive system fell into chaos in an instant, and the outside players were double-teamed by the Timberwolves, making the scoring extremely difficult. The empty shot opportunities created by Curry in the past have been greatly reduced, and the team's offensive rhythm was completely disrupted. He only scored 15 points in the first quarter and fell into a passive early.

Secondly, in addition to Curry's absence, poor player performance has also become a major factor in losing. Although Butler performed on the offensive end, his physical fitness was severely limited in the second half. When Curry was not on the court, he should have carried the banner of offense, but as the game deepened, his physical fitness decreased, and he scored 17 points in the game. He only made 6 of 13 shots, which was difficult to make up for the huge gap in Curry's absence. In terms of role players, Hilder feels cold on the outside, with only 4 of 9 shots from outside the three-point line. Many of them have poor timing and failed to become a stable firepower point on the outside as before. Green made 3 of 10 shots in the game and 1 of 6 three-pointers. The offensive end is extremely sluggish, and the defensive end is not able to limit the opponent; players such as Moody and Payton Jr. perform mediocrely, with extremely low presence on both ends of the offense and defense, and cannot provide strong support to the team.

Then, looking at the coaching tactics, Cole's coaching strategy has been criticized a lot. He did not give Kumingga, who performed well in the game and had enough impact, and Kumingga scored 18 points efficiently from 8 of 11 shots, but failed to gain trust at critical moments. At the stalemate of the game, Cole did not make effective tactical adjustments, such as facing the Timberwolves' joint defense and not changing the offensive strategy in time, resulting in the team's weak offense. In addition, making Post a failure in starting the game, and Post was completely unable to adapt to the intensity of the playoffs, which seriously affected the team's start. In the first half, Cole also frequently rotated players, which made the lineup lack stability and destroyed the team's tacit understanding of offense and defense that the team finally established.

In contrast, their opponents Timberwolves performed almost perfectly in this game. The offensive efficiency has been greatly improved, and a large number of misaligned offensive opportunities were created through continuous pick-and-roll throughout the game. The shooting percentage of the first quarter was as high as 52.4%, establishing a 13-0 lead early. Substitute players Reed and Walker were fully fired, and the two scored 11 points and 20 points respectively, providing strong firepower support to the team. On the defensive end, the Timberwolves successfully restricted the connection between Butler and his teammates through joint defense, cut off the Warriors' offensive transmission, and used the Warriors' mistakes to counterattack frantically, further expanding their lead and making the Warriors lose sight of one thing. The defeat in this game sounded a wake-up call for the Warriors. Next, they need to adjust as soon as possible to solve the offensive organizational problem after Curry is absent, and tap the potential of role players. Butler also needs to assume more responsibilities in subsequent games. For Coach Cole, how to reasonably arrange players' playing time and make more effective tactical adjustments will also be a huge challenge he faces. The series has just begun. Let's wait and see whether the Warriors can bottom out and rebound in subsequent games.