Julius Randle backpedaled with his arms in the air and a red ring illuminating the game clock. Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards stormed Randle with relieved smiles, and the rest of the Minnesota Timberwolves bench quickly followed, with the Target Center crowd in a frenzy around them.
It was the fallout of Randle’s first signature moment in a Timberwolves uniform.
He drilled a step-back three with 0.1 seconds left in regulation, putting the Wolves up 120-117 and sending the Phoenix Suns back to the desert in disbelief.
Finch drew up Minnesota’s final play to get Anthony Edwards the ball. He flew around Randle, but Ryan Dunn switched onto Edwards, forcing Joe Ingles to make the inbound pass to Julius instead. Old friend Josh Okogie is one of Phoenix’s best perimeter defenders and was guarding Randle. However, Okogie felt Randle’s off-arm on his chest as Julius made his move. Josh tried to embellish the contact, but referees Ray Acosta and Michael Smith didn’t call an offensive foul.
All this came with Devin Booker, who had a game-high 44 points, helplessly watching less than ten feet away. Booker threw his hands up in agony after Okogie fell. A few seconds later, Randle raised his hands in joy. It was the perfect ending to a comeback victory, but it very well could not have happened. The refs could have called Randle for an offensive foul, and that would be an outcome Wolves fans would have had to live with, too.
It’s all a part of the Julius Randle Experience.
“It was one of those games,” Finch said regarding Randle’s game-winner. “Coming back from the West Coast with an early start, we obviously didn’t have it at the beginning. We just had to keep the game as close as we possibly could until we could catch a rhythm both defensively and offensively. … It’s been a microcosm of our season so far. We have to find a way to keep battling and eeking out results until we catch the rhythm that we know is there.”
The Suns took their biggest lead of the game (16) with 10:32 minutes left in the second quarter. Booker was flying off screens and laying haymakers against Jaden McDaniels – exactly what De’Aaron Fox did to hang 60 points against the Wolves on Friday in Sacramento.
Minnesota barely squeaked by to beat the Sacramento Kings, 130-126, in overtime. It was a “super f*cking important” win for the Wolves, but they let a 20-point lead slip away in the fourth. Had they lost, it would have been Minnesota’s longest losing streak (four) since 2022-23, when they lost six straight in a streak that triggered a player’s only meeting.
If Sacramento completed the comeback, the Wolves would have fallen to 6-7. Another player’s only meeting could have been on the horizon. However, the gritty win only temporarily assuaged concerns after back-to-back losses to the Portland Trail Blazers.
When Booker came out of the gates looking exactly how Fox did on Friday, there was early reason to be concerned.
The Suns were blowing up all of Minnesota’s pick-and-rolls in the first quarter, especially when Edwards was the ball handler. For most of the game, the Wolves had to rely on isolation scoring and quick shot-making, which are second nature to Randle.
“He was great all night,” Finch told the media postgame regarding Randle’s performance. “They really didn’t have a matchup for him. We and Ant did a really good making sure he got the ball and didn’t go extended periods of time without touching the ball.”
Randle immediately plugged things in for the Wolves, recording nine points and two assists on 3 of 6 from the floor, 1 of 3 from deep, and 2 of 2 from the free throw line in the first quarter. He materialized positive offensive results out of nothing by exploiting mismatches and pushing the pace.
Minnesota trailed 17-7 with 6:53 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Over the next two minutes, Randle went on an 8-2 run (five points as the scorer, three as the passer) before taking a seat on the bench with 4:38 left in the frame and the Wolves pulling within eight points.
He injected the Wolves with life while the Suns smothered Edwards, an early trend that stayed constant during the rest of Minnesota’s uphill fight against Phoenix.
Randle finished with a season-high 35 points. He was a steady drumbeat of offense, scoring nine points in the first quarter, nine in the second, ten in the third, and seven in the fourth. Randle was also a game-high +16 in 34 minutes, never letting Booker’s domination grant the Suns a comfortable lead.
He eclipsed his previous season-high 33 points, which he set against the Kings in Minnesota’s second game. Randle was trying to get Wolves fans to buy what he was selling after putting together a clunker (16 points on 5 of 10 from the floor) in Minnesota’s season opener.
Fans didn’t know what to expect from Randle two games into the season. Was he more like the player who dropped 33 points on 76.5% from the floor? Or was he more like the player who took only ten shot attempts and looked disinterested during prolonged stretches?
Fourteen games into the season, Randle is averaging 21.6 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists on 50.7% from the floor and 38.2% from deep. He has looked far more like the player we saw in Game 2 of the season than in Game 1, exceeding expectations while the Wolves work through the acclimation process.
However, there’s a trade-off that comes with the Julius Randle Experience.
Randle finished with 20 points in Sacramento on Friday, but it took him 20 shots to get there. He hit two clutch shots in overtime, which helped the Wolves stave off Sacramento’s comeback. Still, Julius went 0 for 3 from the floor in the fourth, missed shots at the rim, and committed a crucial turnover.
That came on the heels of Minnesota’s 106-98 loss in Portland two days prior. Randle had 11 points and four turnovers in that game, with lackadaisical defense on the other end.
Fans have quickly jumped on the Randle rollercoaster, and for good reason. He is Minnesota’s second-leading scorer and has exceeded certain expectations early in the season while walking the tightrope between hunting his shot and not taking away from Edwards.
His latest showing at Target Center cemented what Wolves fans have seen Randle do against them for years – total domination from start to finish with late-game heroics.
“That’s what he do. Everything we played him when he was in New York, he cooked us,” Edwards said regarding Randle’s performance on Sunday. “Finchy has done a great job telling him to get back to it and take control of the game. He did that tonight.”
However, fans must find a way to live with Randle’s sudden drop-offs as much as his ascents, similar to what they had to do with Towns. Julius’ drop-offs may not always be complete game clunkers. They might be a head-scratching turnover, poor shot selection late in games, or unenthused defense. Sometimes, he may have memorable shortcomings in an otherwise great game.
Randle has always carried those negatives with his game, but they haven’t stopped him from becoming a three-time All-Star. The Julius Randle Experience rollercoaster took its biggest climb yet against the Suns. A drop-off may follow, but hopefully, he continues to flatten them as he gets more comfortable with his new team.
