After the Minnesota Timberwolves won Game 4 to tie the series 2-2, Chris Finch admitted he’d have liked to use the Minnesota Timberwolves’ small-ball lineup more against the San Antonio Spurs. Unfortunately, Julius Randle has kept the Wolves from doing that.
“I wanted to get to the lineup,” Finch said. “In Game 3, Julius’ foul trouble kind of hurt us. Tonight, I was gun-shy earlier on against some of their smaller lineups. [But the small-ball lineup were] the guys [who] were playing the best in the game, and [we] needed to get them out there.”
Julius Randle has become a fulcrum in Minnesota’s game plan against the Spurs. Rudy Gobert may guard Victor Wembanyama more effectively in a vacuum. However, Randle can slow him down, and the Wolves tend to get better looks with their small-ball lineup.
The Spurs have occasionally isolated Gobert offensively, forcing Minnesota’s players away from him. When he can’t hand the ball to his teammates or set picks for them, their ball movement stalls and the offense stagnates.
Conversely, when Randle is playing effectively, the Timberwolves can use a smaller lineup that plays inside-out, using drive-and-kicks to space the floor. In doing so, they can move Wembanyama away from the basket and generate open threes or lanes to the basket.
However, the Wolves can only implement this strategy if Julius Randle is productive.
Randle picked up four fouls in the first three quarters of Game 3. Chris Finch deployed him at the 2:26-minute mark of the fourth quarter after using a bigger lineup with Gobert for the rest of the fourth. Randle picked up his fifth foul with 1:22 left in the game.
Finch left Randle in, but at the risk of him fouling out. Had he gone to him earlier, Randle may have fouled out. Randle also didn’t play well in Game 3, scoring 12 points in 31 minutes on 3-of-12 shooting and 0-for-3 from three.
Randle didn’t play much better in Game 4. He had 12 points in 38 minutes, going 5 for 12 from the field and 2 for 4 from three. He also had a team-high six turnovers and only three assists.
“We were probably just trying to play too fast,” said Finch. “Like the one in transition, he probably didn’t see the guy tracking back. Maybe just kind of playing in the crowd a little bit too much.”
Randle said his play was “solid” after the game, and that he’s “doing whatever the team needs for me to win.”
He likely came to that conclusion because of his defense. Still, Randle must play better to give Minnesota the option to go five-out against San Antonio.
Gobert ultimately played well in the final minutes of Game 4, setting screens to create good looks, scoring on alley-oops, and cleaning up misses. The Wolves can close with him. Still, there are scenarios where they’re better off using Randle and a smaller lineup to create good looks.
However, Randle must be productive for that to work, and Finch must be willing to go small. Gobert was pivotal against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets in Round 1, and he played well at the end of Game 4. Still, the Wolves have multiple looks to upset San Antonio and reach the Western Conference Finals. Ultimately, Julius Randle must be at his best to allow them to do that.
