Warriors-Timberwolves preview: NBA’s two hottest teams since March face off in playoffs

Anthony Edwards eliminated one Gang USA teammate already and now the Timberwolves rising star will get his crack at another Olympic gold-medal winner after Stephen Curry and the Warriors took care of business at last against the Rockets With a - win Sunday in Challenge Golden State advanced to the Western Conference semifinals where they will face Edwards and Minnesota which needed only five games to move past Luka Doncic LeBron James and the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers The series which tips off Tuesday p m TNT at the Target Center in Minneapolis pits the West s No and No teams against each other but the Dubs and Wolves would both say they ended the season playing better basketball than their seeding indicates Season series GSW MIN - MIN Dec - GSW Dec - GSW Dec - GSW Jan road win The storyline The Warriors have never faced the Timberwolves in the postseason and more importantly haven t seen them at all since acquiring Jimmy Butler III Perhaps only Golden State had the trajectory of its season altered more than Minnesota in the time since While Butler propelled the Warriors into the league s top defense and a - record with him in the lineup Minnesota s pick-and-roll combo of Edwards and Julius Randle has unlocked the league s second-best offense and a - record including the playoffs since March For once the Warriors can t claim the best participant in the series That title belongs to the -year-old Edwards who took a back seat to Curry and the old guard in Paris but like it or not has put himself in the conversation as the next face of the league He averaged points rebounds and assists while playing minutes per tournament in Minnesota s series against the Lakers Edwards mostly kept the Timberwolves offensive machine rolling averaging points per possessions after posting a regular-season figure since March second only to the Oklahoma City Thunder After a physical series against the Rockets Golden State will also have to contend with the size of the Timberwolves who start Randle - alongside Rudy Gobert the -foot- four-time defensive performer of the year and have Naz Reid - coming off the bench Gobert as Warriors fans may recall is a longtime target of Draymond Green s ire including last season when Green put Gobert in a chokehold and drew a five-game suspension X factor The Timberwolves will be operating not only with homecourt advantage but also with youth and four extra days of rest on their side Edwards may prove better equipped for the rigors of a playoff series than Curry thumb and Butler back who are and years old respectively and continue to nurse injuries Curry logged minutes in the seven-game slog against Houston in Championship while Butler was forced to miss a contest after taking a hard fall as opposed to only minutes of mileage in the first round on Edwards who will go nearly a week between games The schedule Encounter Warriors at Timberwolves Tuesday p m PT TNT Tournament Warriors at Timberwolves Thursday p m PT TNT Match Timberwolves at Warriors Saturday time TBD ABC Championship Timberwolves at Warriors Monday time TBD ESPN Contest Warriors at Timberwolves Wed May time TBD TNT Match Timberwolves at Warriors Sun May time TBD tv TBD Challenge Warriors at Timberwolves Tue May p m PT ESPN if necessary