End of an era? Golden State Warriors ponder returning to championship level after falling to Timberwolves

Timberwolves coach Chris Finch respects what the Golden State Warriors accomplished with their four NBA titles in eight years, but he knows the team the Wolves eliminated wasn’t that team.

The Wolves closing out the Warriors with Wednesday’s 121-110 win in Game 5 might have put a stamp on the end of an era, but it was hard to say for sure with Steph Curry’s injury a major factor.

“They’re no longer in their dynastic phase, I would say,” Finch said. “But the era of Golden State basketball is still rolling on. They’re very, very relevant.”

Finch’s team didn’t give the Warriors a chance to prove his point in this series. The Wolves dominated the Western Conference semifinals with four consecutive victories after losing Game 1.

Curry’s absence after a hamstring injury in the opening game seemed to ruin any realistic hopes his team had at a deep playoff run, but the Warriors still felt like they had a shot.

Curry was a possibility to return if they could win Wednesday and force Game 6, which would’ve been played Sunday, a few days of rest later.

“You want to be as good of a team as you can be, but you always say you need a little luck,” Draymond Green said. “We definitely miss Steph. That goes without saying, but I’m not going to come up here and harp on Steph not being here and make like [the Wolves’] win is less than what it is.”

“Ultimately we’ve got to be able to guard and get stops,” Kerr said. “We weren’t able to do that.”

Replacing Curry’s scoring was Buddy Hield in Game 1 with a team-high 24 points. Hield called himself Batman to Butler’s Robin after the 99-88 win last week at Target Center, but he had just eight points on 2-for-9 shooting Wednesday.

Butler, who had 33 points in Game 3, was battling illness and a lingering hip issue from the first-round series against Houston.

“The injury in Houston definitely impacted him,” Kerr said. “He’s been playing through pain. I think the biggest thing in this series without the spacing that Steph gives us, Minnesota did a great job of playing us one-on-one. … They made things difficult for Jimmy. Once Steph went out, it changed everything for our whole team, especially for Jimmy.”

Still, Jonathan Kuminga emerging as a go-to option and Brandin Podziemski ending a slump kept Golden State’s offense afloat Wednesday. Podziemski and Kuminga combined for 54 points and helped the Warriors cut the Wolves’ lead to 99-90 with just under seven minutes to play.

“Yes, our main three guys are older now, so we’re going to have to navigate that,” Kerr said. “But you just go for it and do the best you can.”

The Warriors went to the Western Conference finals six times in eight years from 2015 to ’22, including five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals. Curry (37) and Green (35) aren’t getting younger. Butler (35) gives Golden State a new Big Three in place of Klay Thompson, who is now with the Dallas Mavericks.

“One thing I can assure you is every year we will get older,” Green joked. “But I don’t worry about that one bit. I feel like I’m still improving. I feel like Steph’s still improving. I feel like Jimmy’s still improving. As long as you’re improving in this league they’ll treat you well. It’s when you stop improving the bottom falls out.”

Younger players took a step with playoff experience, and Butler’s presence for a full season could make a bigger difference. A healthy Curry meant they were contenders this year. Hard to count out a former dynasty.