The Golden State Warriors beat the Minnesota Timberwolves 99-88 in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Tuesday. They did that despite the fact that Stephen Curry left the game early with a hamstring injury that could also keep him out of Game 2. While that may worry Golden State fans, ESPN's Jay Williams isn't concerned.

On Get Up Wednesday morning Williams made the case that the Warriors can still beat Minnesota without Curry, citing their defense as the main reason.

"I still think that the Warriors have a legitimate shot to win this series without Steph Curry," said Williams. "I know that sounds crazy. I know the gravity that he warrants when he's on the court, but one of the things that people keep looking over is the fact that this was the best defensive team in the NBA once they made the Jimmy Butler trade."

Williams argued that the perimeter pressure the Warriors can apply thanks to Jimmy Butler will continue to throw the Wolves off their rhythm and hurt Minnesota's ability to rebound.

Since the Warriors already beat the Wolves with Curry playing just 13 minutes, there's proof that they can beat Minnesota without their best player. Of course, that doesn't account for the possibility that the Wolves can play much better than they did in the Game 1 loss.

The series continues on Thursday night in Minnesota. If the Timberwolves even the series, there will be more pressure for Curry to return as soon as he can, but if the Warriors win that game to take a 2-0 lead they might just try to see how far they can go without him.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Doesn't Think Warriors Need Stephen Curry to Beat Timberwolves.

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