Game 4 Preview: Timberwolves at Warriors

The Wolves have won two straight and now lead their series with the Warriors 2-1. Can Minnesota keep their momentum going and put Golden State on the ropes by notching a second straight game on the road?

Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden State Warriors – Game 4
Date: May 10th, 2025
Time: 9:00 PM CDT
Location: Chase Center
Television Coverage: ESPN
Radio Coverage: KFAN FM/Wolves App/iHeart Radio

Game 4. The dagger opportunity. The punch that leaves the 10-count unnecessary. And for the Minnesota Timberwolves, maybe the most important 48 minutes of basketball since… well, last May.

Let’s set the stage here.

The Wolves came into Game 3 knowing the stakes. After sleepwalking through Game 1 and waking up just in time for a therapeutic Game 2 beatdown, they entered Chase Center with one job: take back control of the series. No Steph Curry. No excuses. And for a good portion of the night, the game looked like a masterclass in Wolves self-sabotage. The offense clunky. The pace grinding. The refs? Ready to award flopping with a favorable whistle. But when the fourth quarter rolled around, Minnesota didn’t blink.

Julius Randle—yes, that Julius Randle—put up a vintage performance. A triple-double. A playoff triple-double. And not a fake Westbrook triple-double where you’re just stat-chasing rebounds in a 17-point loss. This was an “I’m keeping us alive while the rest of the offense forgets how to dribble” kind of performance. Meanwhile, Anthony Edwards, who had been playing like his ankle was on loan from a 70-year-old insurance salesman, finally turned the jets on and gave us two thunderous dunks that may or may not have broken the internet in the Twin Cities.

Now? Now it’s real.

The Wolves are up 2-1, and Game 4 is the real fork-in-the-road moment. Either they step on the Warriors’ throat—no Steph, no momentum, no lifeline—or they let them up off the mat and head back to Minneapolis with the series hanging in the balance. And if you’ve followed the Wolves at any point in the last 20 years, you know how dangerous that sentence feels.

This is their moment. The kind of moment franchises build legacies on. The kind of game where you either become the team everyone’s scared to play… or just another fun playoff story with a eventual expiration date.

Here are the keys to Game 4…

1. Julius Needs to Keep Being Julius

Let’s start with the obvious: Julius Randle is playing the best playoff basketball of his career. Say it out loud. Write it in cursive. Stamp it on a commemorative cup. The guy was a one-man wrecking crew in Game 3, finishing with a triple-double and looking like a left-handed Scottie Pippen crossed with a bulldozer.

And this isn’t flukey stat-padding — it’s in rhythm, it’s functional, and it’s critical. With Ant still clearly not 100% on that ankle, the Wolves have needed a second star to keep the offense humming. Julius has answered that call in a big way. The best part? He’s not forcing anything. When he bulldozes Jimmy Butler into the post, it’s clean. When he finds Naz in the corner for three, it’s timely. And when he grabs the rebound, brings it up, and initiates offense? That’s bonus-level stuff.

The Wolves need him to keep being that dude in Game 4.

2. Ant Needs to Stay Aggressive, Even If He’s Not 100%

This isn’t a revelation, but it bears repeating: this Wolves team goes as Ant goes. And we saw it again in the second half of Game 3. One moment he was cautiously probing like a guy walking barefoot across Legos, and the next he was exploding to the rim for two monstrous dunks that felt like Marvel trailers — pure anticipation, raw payoff.

Even on one leg, Ant can bend a defense. The Warriors are blitzing him and crowding his space, but when he turns the corner, Golden State has no rim protector who can hang with him. His gravity alone creates better looks for guys like Jaden and Naz. He doesn’t need 35 points. He needs to keep the pressure up, make smart decisions, and keep them honest.

And if the jumper finally returns? Game over.

3. Rudy Has to Stay Disciplined

Rudy Gobert has been rock-solid this series, patrolling the paint and altering countless Golden State drives to the rim. If Steve Kerr is smart, the Warriors are going to drive at him to try to bait whistles. They’ll flop. They’ll throw bodies. And yes, Draymond is still doing that thing where he fouls twice every possession but only gets whistled once a quarter.

Rudy has to stay calm. Stay vertical. Stay on the floor. Because when Rudy’s out there, the rim is closed for business. When he’s not? The Warriors start smelling blood and their confidence returns.

4. Keep McDaniels Glued to Butler and/or Hield

I’ve said it before, but it’s worth a reminder: Jaden McDaniels is a top-3 perimeter defender in the league. He’s been suffocating Jimmy Butler this series, and he’s made Buddy Hield look like just a guy. When McDaniels is locked in, he turns elite scorers into spot-up spectators.

With no Curry, the Warriors’ offensive margin for error is razor-thin. Take away Hield and Butler, and suddenly the Warriors are relying on Jonathan Kuminga and Kevon Looney to generate offense. That’s where you want them.

5. The Bench Has to Step Up

One of the biggest advantages the Wolves have in this series? Depth. However, Minnesota’s bench has been spotty at best through the first three games.

Naz Reid has come through from beyond the arc, but has been cooked by Jimmy Butler on more than a few occasions. Donte DiVincenzo needs to regain his shooting form and knock down more threes. Nickeil Alexander-Walker had a solid Game 2 with 20 points, but disappeared again on Saturday night.

In Game 4, that group has to show up. If the bench outplays Golden State’s? That is likely the game.

The Bottom Line

This is the moment. The Wolves are up 2–1, and the Warriors are wobbling. Steph Curry’s status is still in question. The Target Center crowd is 1,700 miles away. You don’t let this opportunity slip.

Because we’ve seen this movie before. Golden State is a zombie team. They’ll look dead for 44 minutes, then you blink and they’ve hit five threes in a row and Buddy Hield is flexing like he’s Reggie Miller in MSG. You do not give them a second life.

If the Wolves come into Game 4 with focus, poise, and that same killer mentality they showed in the fourth quarter of Game 3, they can end this series before Steph ever gets another shot at it.

Go up 3–1. Come home. Close it out.

And then — maybe — start printing tickets for a second straight Western Conference Finals.

Let’s see if they’re ready for the moment.