When the Warriors will play next — and who they’d want to see
After Warriors knock off Nuggets, they must wait to face the winner of
the Memphis-Minnesota series
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) grabs a pass from Stephen Curry (30) against Denver
Nuggets’ Jeff Green (32) in the first quarter of Game 5 of their NBA
first round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
>SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 27: Golden State Warriors’ Klay
Thompson (11) grabs a pass from Stephen Curry (30) against Denver
Nuggets’ Jeff Green (32) in the first quarter of Game 5 of their NBA
first round playoff series at Chase Center in San Francisco, Calif., on
Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group)
By ALEX SIMON | asimon@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group
PUBLISHED: April 27, 2022 at 9:50 p.m. | UPDATED: April 28, 2022 at
11:30 a.m.
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2022/04/27/when-the-warriors-would-play-next-and-who-theyd-want-to-see/

The Warriors wrapped up their first-round series against the Nuggets on
Wednesday night, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals with a
102-98 win.

Now, Golden State will take on the winner of the series between No. 2
seed Memphis Grizzlies and No. 7 seed Minnesota Timberwolves, which the
Grizzlies currently lead 3-2. Game 6 in Minneapolis is set for Friday night.

The NBA announced that, if the Grizzlies win on Friday, Game 1 of the
Memphis-Golden State series would take place on Sunday afternoon at
12:30 p.m. PT and be broadcasted on ABC. If the Timberwolves win and
force Game 7, then the Warriors won’t start their second-round series
until Tuesday.

Now that the Warriors have advanced, the Grizzlies may be the team
they’d least like to see.

Memphis went 3-1 against Golden State this year, including handing the
Warriors their first loss of the season at the Chase Center in late
October. But the game that stands to be the bigger measuring stick is
from last year’s play-in tournament.

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Less than 12 months ago, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies came from behind to
pull out a 117-112 win in overtime over the Warriors and end Golden
State’s season before the playoffs. Even though Curry had 39 points and
Poole added 19, Morant’s 35 points led Memphis to the win.

Morant and the Grizzlies made it well-known after the game that they
didn’t have any fear in facing the Warriors and the championship
pedigree that Curry and Green carry. Their games from this season seemed
to show that, too.

If Minnesota comes back in the series and can advance, it’d be a playoff
matchup of two teams inextricably linked to each other for years. And
while you can start all the way back with the Wolves taking two guards
in the 2009 NBA Draft ahead of Curry, the more recent history is layered.

The trade that sent D’Angelo Russell to Minnesota for Andrew Wiggins and
a first-round pick that became Jonathan Kuminga would undoubtedly become
a major headline in the series. While Russell was only a Warrior for
two-thirds of a season, Wiggins played every professional game over
five-plus seasons for the Wolves before the trade.

The Wolves and Warriors split their four games this season, with the
home team prevailing each time.

--
Alex Simon