After many questions about the Los Angeles Lakers after losing in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, the Golden State Warriors found themselves in the same position.
Both teams lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, a difficult loss for the teams given the talent on the roster. However, the Lakers' loss still seems much worse given they were healthy, whereas Stephen Curry was out for the Warriors.
Regardless of who was in a better position to win, Joe Lacob said that the Timberwolves are a very good team, and seemingly threw a shot at the Lakers, adding that they had two of their best players, and the Warriors didn't.
“It’s in some ways kind of a win to get here, to get (to) the second round,” Lacob said, per The Athletic. “Yeah, we lost four games to one. Not good. But to a team that is playing very well. They took the Lakers out four to one also with two of the greatest players in the world on their team. We didn’t have one of ours. So we can all sit here and make what-ifs, judgments, but I can’t be really upset with what happened, given that we just didn’t have our biggest force.”
It's always tough to say whether a team would’ve won a series had they been with their best player.
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It's tough to ignore how talented Curry is, but the Warriors didn't play great basketball against the Timberwolves. For the most part, Minnesota dominated that series, evident in their wins in Game 2, Game 4, and Game 5.
Yes, Curry would've made a difference, but the Timberwolves played at a high level.