Buddy Hield offered a sick Jimmy Butler “some Bahamian souse”

[G4-G5-MIN-GSW interviews/transcripts]

As I said in the last post, the formula for Game 4 actually worked for about 29 minutes, then Jimmy Butler — who is part of that formula — couldn’t answer down 74-68 as he got called for an offensive hook on a drive and a couple possessions later, couldn’t hit a tough fade in the paint, and Anthony Edwards made him pay with a pull up three in Butler’s face nine seconds later. Timeout, Wolves got the buffer they needed, now at 80-68. Two-and-a-half minutes prior, a Jimmy stop-and-pop jumper over Rudy Gobert at the elbow had tied the game, 68-68.

Then on the podium, Draymond Green told us Jimmy was under the weather. Yesterday, Steve Kerr said Butler is good to go (see transcript below) and this morning at shootaround, Buddy Hield confirmed that also told reporters he tried to give Jimmy some chicken soup.

“He didn't veg for me. He didn't take it from me, so he didn't trust me, so I tried to get him right,” said Hield. “Some souse. Some Bahamian souse. Some Bahamian souse will get him right.”

As far as the game tonight, I’m curious to see if there’s a Warrior who will step up with his back against the wall. Looking at his history of such must-win games, Draymond Green has the most impressive record.

But even Klay Thompson didn’t necessarily play out of his mind, especially early in his career? although he’s the namesake of Game 6 Klay. Then again, all those games included one Wardell Steph Curry as an active player.

So I’m a little more forgiving to Brandin Podziemski, who’s had some startling bad shooting stats since his breakout scoring performance in Game 4 versus Houston.

I wonder if Moses Moody is a guy who could have a breakout game?

I’d also like to see Quinten Post experimented with for some pop on offense, but also obviously in our defensive zone as he’s too slow-footed for when the Wolves run pick-and-roll with Gobert.

And finally, should the squad get down, like, oh idk, 80-68, I’d prefer to see the five “youngsters” all subbed in with the full-court press to get a double-digit deficit back to single-digits, SWAT-team style,

This identity doesn’t have the three-point shooting or talent to recover from a double-digit deficit, imo. And Minnesota tends to throw the ball away a lot. They’re not that great at full-court pressure, which is not something the Warriors really can do with older guys like Jimmy out there.

Kerr talked about going deep into the rotation (or not, see transcripts below the paywall, to be unlocked after the next article posts).

Included below are scenes from morning shootaround including Steph hitting his only shot right before he walked back to the locker room…

….as well as Q&As from Buddy and Trayce Jackson-Davis this morning (in embedded video above), the off-day with Steve, and Game 4 postgame with Kerr, Draymond, Kevon Looney, and Jonathan Kuminga, in chronological order:

00:00 What of your view happened in that third quarter? Obviously, pretty much Ant (led them), but what did you see?

00:07 STEVE KERR, POSTGAME G4-MIN-GSW: Well, Ant got going and we decided to go to a bigger lineup with JK and Draymond and Jimmy, just to try to slow them down and slow Ant down and, obviously, didn't work. They kept scoring and we couldn't score, so we just lost our ability to connect the game there in that third quarter and they got loose. And that was a difference in the game.

00:39 Where did you see the main issues defensively tonight?

00:43 Well, they went 16-for-34 from three. It felt like there were some in the third quarter where we got disconnected defensively and they got wide open looks. I also thought they hit some really tough shots as well. They played a great game and, obviously, took it to us and we've gotta bounce back. We've got a flight to Minneapolis tomorrow and a chance to extend the series and that's the plan.

01:17 Steve, hypothetical, but if Steph on game day said, "I feel I can go, I wanna give it a try." Would he go then, or would he — there is a possibility he would be overruled?

01:28 When are we giving the update?

01:30 Wednesday. Wednesday, we'll have an update.

01:34 Steve, after taking 26 shots in Game 3, Jimmy only has nine tonight. What were you seeing from him, what the Wolves was doing defensively and just how he was playing overall?

01:43 Well, he wasn't as aggressive tonight, but I didn't see a lot of openings, either. Ideally we could put more shooting around him to open up the floor a little bit, but with Steph out we're not gonna be able to do as much of that, but with that said, we'll look at the tape and see where we can find some openings for him and I know he'll be aggressive for Game 5.

02:12 Steve, another tough shooting night for Brandin. I know he does other things, but at what point does he just have to make shots for you guys to be successful in this series?

02:23 Well, again, the series changed with Steph's injury, so everybody's shots are going to be more difficult. There's just, Steph's a guy who breaks the defense down for us and creates that offensive flow and I think the end result is that shots are more difficult for every single guy, so I thought BP played really hard tonight, did some really good things. We pushed the tempo we scored 60 points in the first half, so we did some good things. We just couldn't sustain it over 'em.

02:58 Do you know yet if Steph's making the trip regardless?

03:01 I assume he is, but I haven't asked him. You mentioned it and you've kind of alluded to it in a few of your answers, but you 8-of-27 from three tonight and I know even at the beginning of the year you guys wanted to be really high volume of threes and that's with Steph, obviously, in the mix, but how much of an issue is just the straight volume of attempts right now and the lack of — ?

03:23 Yeah, I mean, it's the fact that we're playing some lineups that don't have a ton of spacing, by necessity, to be able to guard and to be able to hang defensively, there's just not gonna be as many openings and we know that, so we do feel like if we can push the tempo for some turnovers, we can get some some open looks in transition, but yeah, without Steph, the game changes and we have to adapt accordingly and we're probably not gonna take as many threes.

03:59 Steve, you obviously saw Anthony Edwards for six weeks last summer in practices, not just the games, but how much did you see his three improving the way it obviously has and how much has that changed the equation?

04:12 I mean, he was always a tough cover, but I imagine now when he is making threes like that. It's very different. Yeah, this has been an amazing shooting year for him shooting as many as he is, I think, 10 or 11 per game. That's way up from his first few years in the league, so I think the last couple summers have been great for him with USA Basketball, working out every day with all those guys and Chris has done a great job with him with that team and it's a natural progression for Anthony to be doing what he's doing, given how talented he is and what a good shooter he is. So, his threes, obviously, some really tough ones tonight. Some, the one at the end of the first half was, incredible, so he's a great player and that's the challenge. We've gotta try to slow him down in Game 5.

05:08 One quick follow up. He said on his ESPN interview that he worked with Steph a lot last summer. How much did you see them interacting in practices?

05:16 Yeah. Every day. All those guys, you know that that's one of the.

05:22 Really, fun parts of that whole experience is seeing all these world class players feed off of each other and, yeah, Ant was right in the middle of all that with Steph, with Bam, Book. All those guys would shoot after practice every day, but like I said he was already a great player. But I think the experience probably helped him and his shooting has dramatically improved volume-wise, percentage-wise.

05:54 Coach, pre-game, I asked you about possible sidebars that you've had with a few of the players. When it comes to Jimmy, are you asking him to be more aggressive or do you pretty much appreciate his ability to kind of pass up on his own shot and try to pass by?

06:06 Yeah, I don't have to say a whole lot to Jimmy. We collaborate all the time and we talk about ideas and I always feel like he has a great sense for the game and he does whatever's necessary to win. He's proven that not only here since we traded for him, but over the years, he knows what's needed and I'm confident that Game 5. He's the ultimate competitor. He'll be ready to roll.

06:34 Steve, you guys, I know you like to close halves and quarters a certain way and the end of the first half, you guys really had a nice thing going until the very end and how big — you mentioned shot — how big was that shot at that time?

06:45 Yeah, it was a big shot. I thought the way we defended, it was great. I mean, Gary, it was all over him. Draymond came out to double and he hits a step-back 30-footer. There's not much you can do about that.

06:59 And Steve, you talked pre-game how you were expecting Draymond to bounce back and kind of give you the spark like he did at the start of this game. What'd you see from him throughout the game and how do you expect he's gonna go into this next game?

07:09 I thought he was great. I thought the way he pushed the tempo, his energy, his approach, his competitiveness, I thought Draymond played a great game.

07:22 You mentioned how Steph, obviously, that changes the shots. Is that also, I mean, some of the reason or all the reason why Moody and Quinten have been so hard to get into this series or how they're basically out of the rotation, just because the flow is so different for them?

07:37 Yeah, that's part of it. I mean, I think, as I said after the Game 1 injury, we've had to sort of reformulate everything to put the best possible two-way lineups on the floor and it's just the way it's shaken out and we have to reconsider given the result tonight. We've gotta look at Game 5 and see if we want to make any lineup changes and rotation changes, but those guys will both be ready. I thought last four-and-a-half minutes was fantastic. The young guys going out there playing the way they did, forcing Minnesota to keep their starters out there, that's important. It's always important to close game as well, and I love what those guys did and they all played well and that matters to me, looking at what's next for Game 5.

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00:00 As you go into Game 5 —

00:01 DRAYMOND GREEN, POSTGAME G4-MIN-GSW: Before I start, I want to apologize to y'all here. I didn't talk the other day. I was quite a bit frustrated and very careful of — didn't want to give myself a fine, but more so say something to make it sound like an excuse, I mean, struggle and lose. And I didn't come up here and talk. I felt like a coward when I got home, so I wanted to apologize to y'all for that. As far as three, we just gotta win a game. Win one game, take it from there. I think that's our mindset. Do all that, we can figure out a way to win one. You win one, everything changes, so that'll be our mindset going into Game 5.

00:50 Draymond, players like Ant are going to get theirs at some point in the game, but do you think that tonight was more a lack of a defensive effort on you guys or just some star power that they had?

01:01 They hit shots. They shot the ball extremely well. I thought we defended good in spurts, but they got going and we never was able to put out the fire, so gotta give them a lot of credit. Kind of felt like they were due for a great shooting tonight. Sucks that it had to be tonight, but it was and we just gotta figure it out coming back in Game 5.

01:27 Draymond, you guys were closing the half really well and then of course Ant hit that big shot at the very end and you and Gary defended it like you should, but how big was that shot for him to go down at that time?

01:37 It was huge. I think one thing we talked about at halftime is like, yeah, he hit a tough shot, but what what could we have done differently? Could we have not let him walk up to the spot, you know? But it's like every time we're on a run, we're letting Ant break the run up. And somebody can break the run up, but it can't be their best player. Our defense should be so keyed in at that point, during a run that it can't be their best player just getting to a spot and raising up and I'm not just talking about that play. There were several points, we're on a run and he get to the — even last game — he get to the free throw line and just raise up and it's like — so I think we gotta do a better job there. And that's not one guy, that's a complete team effort when you're guarding a guy like that, so I think we gotta be better there. Once we get the run, just gotta put up more force defensively.

02:36 You guys only got up 27 threes and it was pretty low volume, last game too. How do you generate enough offense basically in 2025 when it doesn't seem like you guys can get up that many threes?

02:49 Yeah, I think, number one, everybody gotta be ready to shoot. You get the open one, you gotta let it go. I think sometimes we're passing something up. Without Steph, at times the first good look is oftentimes will be the best look and when you got Steph out there, you can turn down looks because you can go and play on the backside and he creates so many dom — causes so many dominoes to fall, but when he's not, you turn down that first open look and then go looking for something else and it may not open up again. And so I think starters, we gotta take the first open ones, not mildly contested ones, but if they're open, you gotta let it go, so I think that's where it starts for us.

03:39 You guys are obviously facing elimination. It's later stage of yours and Steph's career. Do you expect him to almost try to push himself back, considering the circumstance? And do you have to be part of a conversation of him maybe having to protect himself from rushing back?

03:58 No, we not gonna Superman this thing. If he's in the place where he could play, I'm sure he will, and him and Rick (Celebrini) and everybody will figure that out. But we don't need Superman. I play the long game, so if he can, we know he will, but there's no pressure. We gotta figure out how to win, whether he play or not.

04:20 Draymond, you were talking about defending Ant. He was obviously a tough cover his first few years in the league, but now that his three is so much better, how much tougher is he? And is there anyone really in the league who has that combination of three-point ability and dynamic drives to the basket?

04:37 No, there is no one. He's a one-of-one, but I think with the increased volume, the ability that he's worked his tail off for, to be able to shoot the ball like that, makes him a tough cover for sure, but I think we also gotta do a better job, like his first ones can't be off of offensive rebound kick-out threes. I think he's using some of them to get going the last couple games, so we gotta do a better job there of taking those away and if we don't get the rebound, he gotta go into a scramble and not give up them open threes.

05:20 Draymond, with Jimmy what's the difference tonight when he takes nine shots as opposed to the last game when he's taken 26?

05:31 I mean, we obviously need him shooting the ball, but their defense, they were collapsing on him today, so we tried to pick up that slot, but I know he's not feeling well, been pretty crappy all day, but that also affects the energy as well. But, no excuses made here. I think that's on me. I gotta find a way to get him in position, more positions to score. I think tonight I was just trying to get him the ball and I don't think I got him the ball in good spots, which then allowed the defense to load up on him, so I gotta do a better job there of getting him the ball in better spots to where it's not as easy for the defense to key on.

06:16 Draymond, can you, talk about just morale of Steph at this point? How's he holding up? You saying you don't want him to be Superman, but I'm sure he's putting the weight of the franchise on him and just overall, just your thoughts on just how, I guess, unlucky the playoffs can be sometimes. Tatum, look like he's done for the season. I don't know if you saw that or knew that, but just the, I guess, the life of the playoffs?

06:50 Yeah. When you're competing for championships or trying to, the most important thing you can have on your side is health. You start getting a month, two, two-and-a-half months longer into the already long season and injuries are more likely to happen, so you try to do all that you can to prevent that. Send my love to JT. Never wish any injury on anybody. Hoping that it's not what everyone thinks it is. Such a great young talent in this league, does everything the right way, so hate to see him go down. As far as Steph, he's working his tail off every day. He's in here eight, nine hours a day, working, doing what he can to try to get back, so his morale is great. Obviously, nobody's excited right now, but he's working to get back, so all you can do at this point.

08:05 Draymond, this is the third straight game where Jonathan Kuminga had a good scoring game. I was wondering for you, what is it about this series where the spacing hasn't been ideal, that he's been able to get to the basket, get to the rim, and what do you expect to see from him in Game 5?

08:20 Same thing he's been doing, putting pressure on the rim, getting out in transition, attacking seams where he can, but I've always said he's a special talent. You get the ball in his hands and let him figure it out. That's what I try to do. Expect him to have a big game for us in Game 5, but we need him to continue to play with that same aggression, so we definitely need it.

08:46 Draymond, if Steph can't go in Game 5, what's the non-negotiables? You guys absolutely have to have, in order to come out of Minnesota with a win?

08:54 We gotta get loose balls, long rebounds. I thought we did a pretty good job of pushing the pace for parts of the game today, but if you get loose balls and those long rebounds, that ramps that up even more. They get offensive rebounds, get the loose balls, we're taking the ball out the net. We're already missing our No. 1 guy who makes the dominoes fall, so it makes it that much tougher, so gotta come up with all the loose balls and set that type of tone. And then defensively gotta be really good. You can't — you give up 117 points without Steph, you probably losing 'cause the likelihood that we're gonna score 117 points without him is not that high, so everyone has to commit to getting it done on the defensive end, everybody being on the string, that's how we can give ourselves a chance.

09:49 To follow up from the other night. Could you elaborate on what you meant by the agenda statement you made?

09:58 I've moved on.

10:01 What has it been like for Steph on the bench watching these games he can't play in? Is he silent? Is he talkative? Is he angsty? What do you feel coming off of him?

10:10 He's not silent. He's talking, communicating with everyone. He's kind of a voice between the coaches and the players at the moment, but you can tell he's antsy. He grabbed the ball here and there, started dribbling on a shoot. He's definitely antsy, but he's as involved as he can be.

10:30 All right. We got Looney ready to go.

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00:00 How can you guys find a way to score without Steph, which is obviously the life of the series without him?

00:18 KEVON LOONEY, POSTGAME G4-MIN-GSW: We're trying to push the tempo, get extra possessions, play through Jimmy. I think JK's been really aggressive. He's been scoring. I think everybody else has gotta take the open shots and things like that. I think we scored decent today. I think our — we ain't get enough stops to win the game. We talk about winning with our defense. I don't think we did a good enough job to get the win.

00:41 What do you feel — I'm sorry. How do you — what's it like battling with Gobert? And you also got Julius Randle out there and even McDaniels getting into the paint. What's that like?

00:56 It present its challenges. Randle had it — kind of had it going today. He hit a bunch of tough shots. Tip your hat off to him. He made some tough ones. I felt we guarded him decent. We can still do a better job, but him, Rudy, they always carrying a lot of — put a lot of pressure on the rim, which just causes a lot of kick outs for threes and different things like that, so we gotta do a better job of protecting our paint and being able to defend the three-point line.

01:26 What do you feel like went wrong in the third quarter?

01:29 I think we had a little bit too many turnovers. We talked about winning the possession game and I think in that third, we kind of turned the ball over a little bit and that led into some Edwards threes and they got their confidence and we was having a tough time scoring, so I think us getting a good shot every time and getting back in transition is gonna be what was big in the third.

01:52 Kevon, Draymond talked about you just gotta win one game. What gives you the belief and the signs that you can get the Game 5 win in Minnesota and get it back here?

02:01 We feel like we can play a lot better. We feel like we got a good game plan to win a game. We just gotta execute it. We done did it for 36 minutes, 40 minutes. We've gotta do it for a whole 48 and I think if we do that, we can go out there and win. We have belief, we have faith. We'll take it possession by possession, quarter by quarter. We gotta put together a full game and not just 40 good minutes of basketball.

02:26 Kevon, how does your guys' offense change when you're getting nine shots from Jimmy as opposed to when he is taking 26?

02:35 I mean, Jimmy, is a great manager of the game. He kind of knows when he needs to shoot more and knows when to — he trying to pick his spots, so we never really say, "Oh, you gotta be more aggressive," because he knows when he needs to push the buttons and when he needs to go, so we got the ultimate faith that he's gonna make the right decision when he's in the paint, because he gets to the paint when he wants to, just decide when he's gonna take the shots or he's gonna kick it out to other guys, so we kinda just follow his lead and do whatever he does.

03:07 How have you seen him battle through what he's been dealing with, physically? And it sounds like maybe he was under the weather a little bit tonight?

03:13 Definitely. He's a tough guy. He don't really talk about everything that he has going on, but we know he's fighting through injuries and other ailments, but he's our leader and we kind of gotta follow what he does. We can't complain about — it's that time of year where guys are hurting and we know we give a lot of credit for him pushing through the injury that probably a lot of guys probably would sit out with, so he's been a blessing for our team and we've gotta follow his lead and we gonna keep following him and hopefully follow for a win next game.

03:45 Kevon, you've been teammates with Steph for a long time. How would you characterize his mood as he's trying to get back and have a chance in this series?

03:54 He's been — Steph is same as always. He's pretty upbeat. You can tell this is killing him, not being able to be on the floor, but he's trying to keep a positive spirit 'cause we need his leadership. We need his energy even though he's not playing. We need to — he brings that — he still gives that confidence and that wealth of knowledge that he has on the sideline and everybody kinda looks to him still for guidance and for his wisdom, so he's been starting to stay positive, but we know he's extremely frustrated not being out there, but when he's on the court, he's just trying to coach us up.

04:29 What are some of the controllables you guys feel like you could manage better in Game 5?

04:33 The turnovers, the second-chance points. Those are the biggest thing we keep talking about, trying to keep the guys off the free throw line. I think we fought a little bit too much today, too, as well, so those are the things that we gotta win in the margins and I don't think we've been doing a good job at that the last few games.

04:53 Is there anything the Wolves are doing to force those turnovers? Anything particular or special they're doing?

04:58 They're a great defensive team especially when we get in the half court. They're long, athletic and they're putting a lot of ball pressure on it, so it makes it tough, but we just gotta be more organized, get to our spots and get to our space, and we'll be able to score.

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05:15 Down 3-1, a lot of veterans in that locker room. What's kind of the mood? What's the mindset in there now?

05:37 JONATHAN KUMINGA: The mindset and the mood's still very high. We keeping our hopes. We're keeping our energy, our vibe, still great. We all just gotta go get that one, but I think everybody's mindset is very, it's good. Nobody's down.

05:59 To kind of follow up on that, you being one of the younger players, obviously, there are some guys here that have won some championships, right? But then with everyone else, is there a sense of, well, you kinda said no, but a sense of panic knowing that it's do-or-die from here on out in this series?

06:15 I mean, the next game is gonna be about do-or-die, you know? 'Cause we need to. Once we — if we get that one, everything gonna be settled down and I would say it's a big one and we just gotta go out there and figure it out, how to get it.

06:32 And knowing that it's a big one going into Game 5, knowing that you've found some rhythm out there in the last two games, how does that make you feel, specifically about your game going into Game 5?

06:42 Nah, I feel very comfortable. I feel comfortable. I feel ready, no matter any circumstances. I know what I gotta go out there and provide.

06:53 What were they able to do defensively, that 17-0 run, to you and Jimmy, to kind of just maybe keep things from going as easy as they were maybe inside the paint?

07:07 I think we just panic 'cause they was making everything and I think that was the only time we should have just settled down. And we let our guards down. I think that's pretty much it. We just panicked a little bit, yeah.

07:26 At one point in the third quarter, you guys had a lineup out there with no point guard. What were those minutes like for you and how was the spacing in general in that third quarter?

07:36 I think Draymond was our point guard. He's been a point guard his whole life. I didn't really see any problem. I feel like things were going well.

07:54 Jimmy only got — took nine shots tonight. I was wondering, did you feel like you needed to be a little more aggressive tonight knowing that Jimmy — and I think that Steve said he was a little bit under the weather? I was wondering about that.

08:11 I don't think so.

08:19 Quiet group.

08:21 That's it? Yes!

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01:43 Steve, how impactful do you think Jimmy's sickness was yesterday and how is he feeling and I guess what was the issue?

01:55 STEVE KERR, OFF DAY BEFORE G5-GSW-MIN: Yeah, he wasn't feeling well. That was definitely impactful, but he's feeling better and he'll be ready to go tomorrow.

02:06 Hey, Steve, Sam with the Chronicle. We saw in the injury report Steph is out for tomorrow. Is that in line with what you guys expected from the jump?

02:13 Yep. That's why we're having an update tomorrow. That's been the expectation all along.

02:27 Steve did just announcing it today doesn't mean want to take it off the table, you didn't want to have to get questions about it tomorrow and any suspense, just remove that and make it clear, or was it just obvious that it wasn't even gonna be worth to discuss for tomorrow?

02:44 I didn't have anything to do with when the announcement would be made. That's up to the, Brian McIntyre award winner, Raymond Ridder. He made that decision, so all I knew was there was no way he was playing tomorrow and so that was not a surprise to me that we deemed him out. That was a foregone conclusion.

03:10 I'll ask you another one. You went basically with an eight-man rotation last night. I know you're playing the guys that are playing well. Then you also mentioned that, last four minutes, you really liked those guys. Could you see going to a 10, 11 rotation this late in the series? Is that a possibility?

03:29 Not 10 or 11, but I could definitely play a couple of guys beyond where we've been going. It's been an eight-man rotation in the last two games, so we could go to nine or 10.

03:45 Steve, Dalton here. Just what did the third quarter show? I know you guys only had seven — you had six turnovers in the first half, seven in the third quarter. What really started to unravel there?

03:56 Defensive connection. We had done a really good job, I think, the previous couple games of just staying connected and I thought our offensive woes in the middle of the third quarter led to some of the transition stuff, but they hit some tough shots. But it didn't feel like we ever had control of them in the third, so we've gotta stay better connected and make sure we're forcing tougher shots than what we gave up in that third quarter.

04:39 Did Steph make the trip?

04:41 Yeah.

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04:42 All right. Obviously, you guys want to extend the series and whatever, but how nice would it be not only to extend the series, but also to give Steph a chance to come back?

04:51 BUDDY HIELD, MORNING SHOOTAROUND BEFORE G5-GSW-MIN: You just gotta take this game quarter by quarter, get our minds right, get our energy right, come play with force, have fun, keep the scene joy, and just go in there and try to get a win, man. That's the main good objective, to get a win. Survive and advance.

05:09 You were close for a half in Game 3. You guys were there the entire time. What's it gonna take to close out a win without Steph?

05:17 Ah, this event, you can't let them go on that 17-0 run spurt they had last game. I think that was the game right there and that was like a two-minute stretch and we couldn't recover from that. Just staying locked in and mentally focused on those runs and weather the storm and when we go on our runs, see if we can pick it up, too.

05:39 When you're sitting around watching TV and stuff, do you still hold the ball?

05:42 Of course. I got a ball everywhere. You wanna hold it for me?

05:49 Buddy, have you checked in on your friend Jimmy after him being sick?

05:54 Jimmy, he's in better spirits today. He was talking and he was being himself. I expect a whole different Jimmy Butler today.

06:04 He wasn't like that before Game 4?

06:05 I was trying to give him — I tried to cook him some soup, he didn't veg for me. He didn't take it from me, so he didn't trust me, so I tried to get him right for Game 4, but I think he's right today.

06:17 What soup are you cooking up?

06:19 Some chicken noodle soup. Some souse, some Bahamian souse. Some Bahamian souse will get him right.

06:26 What have you seen from Steph the last few days that he was out there shooting a few minutes ago? What have you seen for him?

06:31 Same thing you've seen. Waiting until Sunday comes, the opportunity comes. Anything else? Thank you. Y'all be good.

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NO TRANSCRIPT FOR ANTHONY EDWARDS AND JADEN MCDANIELS DUE TO TIME CONSTRAINTS

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06:40 Here you go, Game 5. What's it feel like, nothing to lose. What does it feel like?

06:45 TRAYCE JACKSON-DAVIS: We just gotta go out there and play, man. Obviously, we know what's on the line, but we just gotta go out there, run our stuff, listen to Coach, play hard, and we feel like we can get this thing done.

06:57 Seeing Steph out here, how much motivation is there to extend the series and give him a chance to come back for the series with y'all?

07:04 Oh, there's a lot of motivation. Obviously, we already wanna play. We're already playing to win, but when you add that extra chip on your shoulder, having Steph out, just trying to get him a chance to come back, is huge. And we talked about some things. We got some things cleaned up and now we just gotta go out here and execute.

07:21 Have they done a lot differently, to you? Is it what you expect? Last game, did they make any changes in that second half that surprised you?

07:28 No, I just feel we got a little sped up on the offensive end and led to some transition baskets. I feel like we let Ant loose a little bit, so we just gotta make sure we're keen on him, don't let him get loosened, hit open ones.

07:42 What do you expect from the Timberwolves tonight, knowing they're trying to close it down in front of their home fans and everything?

07:46 Yeah, it's a closeout game, really difficult games, as you can tell from our last series, but we just gotta go out there and execute. We know it's gonna take a full 48-minute effort for us to get this thing done. They're a really good team and so we gotta be almost perfect.

08:01 Trayce, did Steph talk to you guys at all, in any way?

08:04 Yeah, Steph's been around. Steph is Steph. He's given us confidence. He's breathing life into us. He really wants to get back. I know he's working super-hard to get back and so we gotta go out there and do this thing for him.

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