Minnesota Timberwolves oust Golden State Warriors Boston Celtics down NY Knicks to stay alive

LOS ANGELES – The Minnesota Timberwolves routed the Golden State Warriors to advance to the NBA Western Conference Finals on May 14, as the Boston Celtics kept their play-off campaign alive with a blowout victory over the New York Knicks.

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 the NBA Finals.

Minnesota 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, they 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.

“We’ve had a season full of adversity, but as coach said at the end of the regular season – we didn’t do anything as far as trades or fire coaches,” Randle said.

“We just stuck together and we got through it together. I’m super proud of our team – everybody has stepped up in some way this year. Now we got to keep it going.”

Reigning NBA champions Boston battled back from Jayson Tatum’s shattering injury blow to defeat the Knicks 127-102 and breathe new life into their faltering play-off campaign.

The Celtics, trailing 3-1 and facing elimination in the best-of-seven series after the May 12 defeat that saw Tatum suffer a ruptured Achilles tendon, roared back at their TD Garden.

Derrick White and Jaylen Brown led Boston’s