Who the Warriors play next and when
Warriors can secure a week of rest with Game 4 win over Nuggets Sunday
afternoon
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 18: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) takes a shot against the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter
of Game 2 of the team’s NBA basketball first-round playoff series at the
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Nhat
V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 18: Golden State Warriors’ Stephen
Curry (30) takes a shot against the Denver Nuggets in the fourth quarter
of Game 2 of the team’s NBA basketball first-round playoff series at the
Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on Monday, April 18, 2022. (Nhat
V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
By MICHAEL NOWELS | mnowels@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 24, 2022 at 10:45 a.m. | UPDATED: April 24, 2022 at
10:45 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/04/24/who-the-warriors-play-next-and-when/

The Warriors are on the verge of sweeping the Nuggets and advancing to
the second round of the NBA playoffs.

Who they’ll meet there — provided they don’t become the first NBA team
to blow a 3-0 series lead — is not yet clear, but it’s between Minnesota
and Memphis.

The Timberwolves evened their series against the Grizzlies last night
with a tense 119-118 win in Minneapolis. Karl-Anthony Towns’ 33 points
helped Minnesota bounce back from a Game 3 loss in which it blew a
26-point lead at home.

The teams are tied 2-2 as the series shifts back to Memphis for Game 5
Tuesday night.

Minnesota’s win guaranteed at least a Game 6, which will be played
Friday night in Minneapolis.

With that game written in ink, the soonest the Warriors could play Game
1 of their Western Conference semifinal series against either team would
be next Sunday, May 1. A win today would earn them at least a week off —
even more if the Grizzlies and Wolves split the next two games, forcing
Game 1 back at least two days to next Tuesday, May 3.

Golden State split its season series with Minnesota, winning both home
games. The Grizzlies won three of four matchups with the Warriors in the
regular season, including a blowout late last month in Andre Iguodala’s
return from injury, which doubled as his return to Memphis. He got a
hearty boo from the crowd, which didn’t forget that he sat out in
2019-20 after the Warriors traded him to the Grizzlies.

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The Warriors, as has been noted plenty of times, are healthier now than
they were at any time in the regular season. Steph Curry, Klay Thompson,
Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green never played an offensive possession
together until the playoffs.

Towns would represent a slightly different challenge than the one the
Warriors have faced in Nikola Jokic, as he’s more of a perimeter scorer.
The Wolves’ supporting cast is more potent than Denver’s, with Anthony
Edwards coming into his own in his second season. The series would also
be a reunion for Andrew Wiggins, who spent the first five-plus seasons
of his career in Minnesota before being traded to Golden State in
exchange for D’Angelo Russell in 2020.

A matchup with the No. 2 seeded Grizzlies would be a shot at revenge
after Memphis knocked the Warriors out of last season’s playoffs with a
surprise win in the play-in tournament. Ja Morant has not dominated in
this series, but the Grizzlies are a well-rounded bunch, with backcourt
scoring threats in Morant, Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks.

--
Michael Nowels | Digital Sports Strategist
Mike covers sports.