Warriors copy ‘We Believe’ predecessors vs. T-Wolves, and not in a good way

SAN FRANCISCO – The present-day Golden State Warriors emulated their “We Believe” predecessors in at least one respect during Game 3 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday night.

For the first time since Baron Davis and Stephen Jackson wore the uniform, the Warriors failed to make a 3-pointer in one half of a playoff game.

The Warriors rediscovered their perimeter-shooting identity in the third quarter, making 6 of 11 from beyond the arc. But they couldn’t overcome an overall cold shooting night, a handful of their miscues, and Steph Curry’s absence in a 102-97 loss to the Timberwolves.

After going 0-for-7 on 3-point attempts in the first half, the Warriors found more of a rhythm in the third quarter. But for the game, Golden State was 10-for-23 on 3-point attempts, and shot 43.2% (35 of 81) as they fell behind two games to one in the best-of-seven series.

The Warriors also allowed 16 points off of turnovers and were out-rebounded 44-36.

The last time the Warriors did not make a 3-pointer through an entire half of a postseason game was April 25, 2007. That day, Golden State did not make a shot from beyond the arc in the second half of their opening-round series against the Dallas Mavericks and lost 112-99 in Game 2. The Warriors would go on to upset the top-seeded Mavericks in six games.

In Game 3 against the Timberwolves, the Warriors led 42-40 at the half and hit two three-pointers in the first 2:50 of the third quarter. One came from Buddy Hield just 35 seconds after halftime, and Brandin Podziemski made a 25-footer to cut a four-point Minnesota lead to 49-48 with 9:10 to go in the quarter.

The Warriors actually made five of their first eight 3-point attempts in the third quarter, with Jimmy Butler making one with 2:04 left to give Golden State a 67-62 lead.

That’s about as good as it got for Golden State, which lost the lead midway through the fourth quarter and never recovered.

Anthony Edwards made five 3-pointers and finished with a game-high 36 points to put the Timberwolves in the driver’s seat with Game 4 on Monday.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr knew his team’s offense would be wildly different without Curry, who has a Grade 1 strain in his left hamstring and will not play until later next week at the earliest.

Of the Warriors’ 1,264 three-pointers this season, 311 were made by Curry.

“You can’t suddenly install a new offense in one day,” Kerr said. “But we obviously will lean into Jimmy (Butler), play through him. We’re still going to run similar actions, but Steph is one of one, and a lot of the stuff he creates is not replicable, because we don’t call a ton of plays.

“We run pick and roll with Steph. He comes off, gives it up, and starts flying around. There’s no call for that, it’s a concept more than anything. So it’s not really about play calls. It’s about playing with pace and energy, playing through Jimmy, having the correct spacing, and then getting stops. We have to win this game with our defense.”