Julius

Randle

While Randle did finish Game 5 with a solid stat line, he got off to a slow start on Wednesday, shooting 3-of-6 from the field. As with Anthony Edwards, the Timberwolves needed a far more aggressive Randle to entertain the possibility of extending the series, and he was unable to come through. With the move to Minnesota, many fantasy managers expected Randle to be a solid middle-round player based on his Yahoo! ADP of 62. Unfortunately, he failed to meet expectations, providing eight-round value in eight-cat formats while finishing outside the top-100 in nine-cat. Randle has a player option worth nearly $31 million for the 2025-26 season; he becomes an unrestricted free agent if he does not exercise it.

Surprisingly, Edwards only attempted two shots during the first half of Game 4. A little too willing to allow the game to come to him, the Timberwolves’ star was more aggressive after halftime, even if that did not mean more shots for him early on. Edwards’s ability to get into the paint led to others getting clean looks, helping Minnesota trim the deficit. Unfortunately for the Timberwolves, while Edwards was better after halftime, Julius Randle (5/7/3/1 in 28 minutes) struggled, shooting 1-of-7 from the field. With their season on the line Wednesday night, Minnesota will need Edwards and Randle to be on their A-games from the start in Game 5.

Randle was benched for the entire fourth quarter of Game 2, but bounced back and was a big part of the Timberwolves getting back in the series in Game 3. The 30-year-old power forward was a scoring machine with 24 points on 15 shots including two made three-pointers. Randle didn’t play most of the fourth quarter in Game 3 either, though it was due to the lopsided score and the fact that the Thunder had already pulled their starters. Despite the Game 3 fourth quarter benching, Randle was back as Robin to Anthony Edwards’ Batman in Game 3.

After an excellent performance in Game 1 on Tuesday, Randle was poor on Thursday. While the rebounds and assists may provide solace, he could not find his groove offensively. Needing a spark, Timberwolves coach Chris Finch decided to go in a different direction, with Randle not playing at all during the fourth quarter. He’ll look to bounce back when the Timberwolves host Game 3 on Saturday night.

Randle kept the Timberwolves afloat in the first half. Anthony Edwards headed to the locker room with an ankle injury in the first half, but Randle made five three-pointers and the Timberwolves were clinging to a four-point lead at halftime. That lead wasn’t nearly enough to withstand how the Thunder outplayed the Timberwolves in the second half, but ultimately Minnesota has to be satisfied with another quality performance from Randle in these playoffs.

Randle played at a high level in the first round, but he was dominant in the gentlemen’s sweep of the Warriors. He struggled in Game 1, which Minnesota dropped, but during the final four games of the series, Randle averaged 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 7.8 assists, one steal and two triples while making 55.7 percent of his shots. Turnovers were still an issue, but they didn’t prevent the Timberwolves for winning four straight games. They’ll now await the winner of the Thunder-Nuggets series, and if Randle continues to play like this, Minnesota will have a chance to make the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

Randle has now had at least 24 points in each of the last three games in this series and the Timberwolves have won all three of those games. Minnesota is on the brink of knocking out the Warriors on their way to the Western Conference finals and Randle has been a big part of their success. The Timberwolves will look to advance at home in Game 5 on Wednesday.

The triple-double was the first of Randle’s playoff career. He continues to be excellent in these playoffs as the Timberwolves seem poised for a Western Conference Finals run. Randle had three clutch assists in the final minutes of the fourth quarter as the Timberwolves pulled away from the Warriors. His assist on an Anthony Edwards three-pointer with 1:19 to go that extended their lead to seven points was the dagger. This series will continue Monday night in Golden State as the Timberwolves look to go up 3-1 in the series.

Randle led the Timberwolves in scoring in the Game 2 victory. The 30-year-old power forward had just one 10-assist game in the regular season. He was a steadying presence in his 33 minutes as Anthony Edwards dealt with an ankle injury towards the end of the first half. Edwards recovered from his injury to play 34 minutes, but the Timberwolves were able to rely on Randle to weather the storm and he delivered a big game as the fulcrum of the offense.

After dealing with foul trouble in the first half, Randle came up big after the break to send the Timberwolves to the second round of the playoffs. He had an excellent series, averaging 22.6 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.2 triples to help guide Minnesota to a gentlemen’s sweep. If Randle continues to produce at this level, the Timberwolves will be difficult to beat. They’ll await the winner of the Rockets-Warriors series in round two.