No Curry, no hope! Wolves oust Warriors

MINNEAPOLIS: The Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Golden State Warriors to advance to the NBA Western Conference finals on Wednesday as the Boston Celtics kept their playoff campaign alive with a blowout victory over the New York Knicks.

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The Timberwolves, who had dominated the Warriors to open up a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, once again proved too strong for the seven-time NBA champions as they powered to a 121-110 win in Minneapolis.

The victory completed a 4-1 series triumph for the Timberwolves, who return to the Western Conference finals for a second straight season, where they will meet Denver or Oklahoma City for a place in next month's NBA Finals.

The Warriors, whose playoff campaign was derailed by an injury to Stephen Curry in game one against Minnesota, once again struggled to generate any offensive fluency in the absence of their superstar talisman.

Instead it was left to the Timberwolves to pull clear after taking the lead early in the first quarter, their greater size and shooting accuracy leaving them in total control for long periods.

The Timberwolves led by 25 points late in the third quarter, and although a Warriors rally managed to cut the lead to nine points with seven minutes left, Minnesota regrouped down the stretch to close out a convincing win.

Julius Randle led the Timberwolves scorers with 29 points while Anthony Edwards finished with 22 points, 12 assists and seven rebounds.