Live updates: Wolves find shooting touch in 117-93 win over Warriors in Game 2

Too often, the Timberwolves have been an unserious basketball team. They have a tendency to let winnable games slip away more than they should when other teams are down key players.

Thursday was the first test to see if they learned from their mistakes, as they faced a Warriors team that won’t have injured superstar Stephen Curry for at least a few more games in the best-of-seven NBA Western Conference second-round playoff series.

The Wolves didn’t play a perfect game, but they came away with a 117-93 victory to even the series at one. Game 3 is Saturday night in San Francisco.

Julius Randle keyed the offense with 24 points, 11 assists and seven rebounds and the Wolves got contributions up and down the lineup.

“Credit to all our guys, they were in the right place, and they made the shots,” Randle said.

“This is not a team to be overconfident against. Like we’ve said, they have championship DNA.”

Anthony Edwards had 20 points (6-for-13) for the Wolves after he played through a sprained left ankle suffered in the second quarter.

“We were consistently able to get better looks,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “I felt we missed a lot of open looks too, but we were able to keep finding our rhythm.”

Randle’s all-around performance was one of the reasons the Warriors, who ended up using 14 players while the outcome was still in doubt, never got close after falling behind by 13-0.

“Great all-around game from him, just what we needed,” Finch said of Randle. “When he’s playing that way, it takes us to another level.”

Alexander-Walker led a strong effort from the bench, an area in which the Wolves have a decided advantage.

“Nickeil was huge, we really need this game from him,” Finch said. “We challenged him yesterday to be able to contribute like this, like he has all season.”

Jimmy Butler had 17 points for Golden State, while Jonathan Kuminga had 18 off the bench. Without Curry (hamstring), Warriors coach Steve Kerr had to try a lot of different combinations around Butler and Draymond Green.

“I didn’t want to push it with Draymond or Jimmy,” Kerr said. “Didn’t want to chase this game unless it was really gettable.

“We’re playing a lot of people short-burst minutes, trying to protect Jimmy and Draymond. They’ve been playing huge minutes every other day, flying across the country.”

The Wolves shot 50.6% on the night and were 16-for-37 from three-point range after shooting the worst percentage from three-point range in the NBA playoffs over their past two games.

The fans were quiet in the second quarter as Edwards left the game with an injury to his left leg or ankle. After a drive to the basket, Edwards fell and did not get up as he grabbed the area around his left ankle. He needed help off the floor as the Wolves called timeout.

“This one I was really worried about,” Finch said. “There’s lots of ways being an elite athlete pay off, and certainly being able to shake these things off is one of them. But I was prepared to not see him the rest of the game.”

Said McDaniels: “Superman, for real.”

Said Alexander-Walker: “He’s not going to sit out, for real, unless he’s near dead.”

Kerr said before the game he would be searching for connections and combinations that worked, and he went 14 deep, six more than the Wolves typically play.

The series had its first uniquely Draymond Green moment as Green was whistled for a dead-ball technical foul for shoving Naz Reid in the head after Reid fouled him. Green continued screaming and appearing to curse at officials without another technical as the crowd jeered.

“I may not like it in the moment,” Randle said. “But he can coach me hard and it makes me better. It’s another way he challenges me, that when I come back in, I channel that energy into my game.”

Eventually Golden State had to go to its bench again, and when it did, the Wolves pounced. Threes from Reid and DiVincenzo buoyed the Wolves through that stretch, as did the play of McDaniels, who was up to 16 points by the end of the third. After an Alexander-Walker three, the Wolves were up 76-58. Another Alexander-Walker three later in the quarter got the lead back to 20, which is where the lead stood after three, 85-65.