During Julius Randle’s five seasons in New York, his son Kyden became almost as big a star as his father. He was a fixture at Madison Square Garden, basking in the glow created by Dad’s emergence as an All-NBA level performer.
Julius and his wife, Kendra, reveled in the memories created with Kyden on the court and in the community. They have found their youngest son, Jayce, to be a tougher sell to the raucous and glamorous basketball life.
“He really never comes to the game,” Julius said of his 3-year-old. “I think this is maybe his second game that he’s come to. He hates them.”
The noise rattles the little guy, but Mom could not resist hustling back to the family room at Target Center in the closing moments of Sunday’s game against the Phoenix Suns. Daddy’s new team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, had just roared back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit and had the ball with 2.7 seconds to go. Kendra saw an opportunity for Jayce to be exposed to what Kyden has seen so often, their dad coming through in a big moment.
Proof he HATES games but grateful I brought him back out for the last 30 seconds 💙 https://t.co/tJeCQJlhrw pic.twitter.com/pU2z1waL8B
— Kendra Randle (@KendraRandle_) November 18, 2024
Mom always knows best.
Wolves coach Chris Finch drew up the play with an initial action for Anthony Edwards on a curl. But the Suns had him covered. The second option was for Randle to get the ball near the top of the 3-point arc and get to his patented stepback.
“I knew I had about three seconds left to get to my right-hand stepback,” Randle said. “That was it.”
we know you wanna see this again. pic.twitter.com/xdqRQSqrfb
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) November 17, 2024
When the ball splashed through for the 120-117 win, it gave the entire Randle family their first Minnesota moment. It was his first career buzzer-beating game winner, one that capped a furious fourth-quarter rally that included a 13-3 closing kick to avoid what would have been a demoralizing loss against a team missing stars Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal.
The Randles have been greeted warmly since coming over with Donte DiVincenzo in the trade that sent franchise fixture Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks. Randle has played quite well offensively on his new team, but such a significant deal coming just days before training camp has offered precious little time for anyone to get comfortable. As a result, the Wolves have looked nothing like the defensive juggernaut that advanced to the Western Conference finals.
Randle has been trying to fit in rather than take over, while the Wolves have urged him to play with more force and more aggression. Aside from DiVincenzo, who shrugged off back spasms to hit five 3s, Randle’s teammates were struggling to find the range against the Suns. So the bully ball power forward stepped into the void, pouring in 35 points and seven assists and hitting five 3s of his own.
For those who think Randle got away with an offensive foul when he appeared to push off of former Timberwolves defensive stud Josh Okogie before letting the game winner fly, Randle insists that Okogie “couldn’t even get a contest because he fell. So I was just staying in it, take my time and get a good shot. I’ve taken that shot a thousand times.”
As he let it fly, Randle knew right away that it was going to be good. He started back-pedaling even before the ball went through the net, then thrust his arms into the air, staring Devin Booker down as the Suns star lobbied for an offensive foul call that never came. Then the party started with Randle’s teammates swarming him as the crowd roared like it was a playoff game.
“I love Julius, always have,” said Finch, who was an assistant in New Orleans during Randle’s lone season with the Pelicans in 2018-19. “When I was with him in New Orleans, one of the things I thought he could do was close games real well, because he could get to his spots, draw fouls, he can make tough shots and he’s a good passer.”
The Wolves believe in Randle and Edwards, they now have two go-to scorers for late-game situations. Edwards came through in Sacramento on Friday night, hitting a flurry of incredible shots to help them bounce back from two ugly losses in Portland. On Sunday, it was Randle’s turn.
“Really the fun part is to see all my teammates celebrate,” Randle said. “That’s just how it’s felt from Day 1. Everybody is all the way in together, a very connected group and we all celebrate each other’s success. To me, that’s the best part.”
Randle’s heroics helped paper over what was another underwhelming performance for much of the game. The Suns were playing without Durant and Beal, leaving Booker to go at the fully healthy team that swept them in the first round of last season’s playoffs practically all by himself. And it was working.
One game after giving up 60 points to De’Aaron Fox in an overtime victory over the Sacramento Kings, who were without DeMar DeRozan and Malik Monk, the formerly proud Timberwolves defense was getting shredded again by a single scorer. Booker scored 17 points in the first quarter as the Suns raced out to a 15-point lead. He had 27 by halftime and finished with 44, another sign that the Wolves defense has a long way to go to approach where they were last season.
On the other end, the Suns put the clamps on Edwards. He was just 2 of 5 for four points in the first half with as many turnovers as buckets. Adding to the woes was another bout of inattention on defense in the second quarter that helped the Suns rebuild a cushion that had deflated when he was resting. Late in the period, Edwards first closed out too hard on Okogie at the 3-point line, allowing Okogie to pump fake and go right to the rim for an easy layup. He then failed to box out Okogie on a missed shot, giving him a free dunk.
After the game, Edwards talked about how the Suns were sending hard doubles at him on the touch, which required him to be patient and get teammates involved while he bided his time. He also mentioned the Wolves being heavy-legged after coming home from a three-game West Coast trip and starting the game at 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
“I think everybody was sleepy out there in the game,” Edwards said. “I’m not making excuses but we were sleepy, it was an early game. Took a little bit to get our juices flowing, just happy to be back.”
This mediocre start to the season means the Wolves cannot afford to be sleepy. They have already lost to Miami at home without Jimmy Butler, Portland (twice) without Anfernee Simons and Deandre Ayton and in San Antonio in another game that was easy to find an excuse for — a difficult back-to-back after a late start in Minnesota the previous night. They nearly lost to the short-handed Kings on Friday despite holding a 20-point lead in the third quarter.
They let the Suns shoot 54 percent from the field, 45 percent from 3 and needed a last-second shot despite Phoenix turning it over 21 times and getting just 26 points from their other four starters.
Last season, the Wolves defense would have put these weakened Suns in the vise and squeezed them into submission. This season, with Towns in New York taking their size advantage and rebounding prowess away and Randle struggling to protect the rim when Gobert sits, the Wolves are giving their opponents chance after chance. The Suns had 12 offensive rebounds on Sunday, including three on their final possession with the score tied at 117.
“I think it’s about us five guys finding our edge, and me setting the tone,” said Gobert, who had 11 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks. “I think I haven’t been consistent yet. I’ve been myself the majority of the time, but there’s too many times when I feel like I let the team down a little bit, whether it’s one quarter or a few minutes and I can’t have that if we want to be great as a team.
“And if we want to be a championship team, every minute that I’m on the floor, I have to be the best in the world at what I do.”
Tyus Jones missed a floater, Booker missed a jumper and the Wolves dug deep to force a shot clock violation to set up Randle’s big shot. This season has been about a frustrating search for synergy and rhythm, a lamenting of what used to be and a nervousness about what this is right now. What it also has been is a season of resolve, of bullets being dodged. They won a nail-biter in Sacramento last month, came back from down 10 with four minutes to play to beat Denver, didn’t let Fox’s 60 points or squandering a 20-point lead deter them from closing out the Kings on Friday.
Then came Sunday, when the Suns seemed to have an answer for everything the Wolves (8-6) tried to throw at them, until they didn’t. Phoenix (9-5) led for all but 12 seconds in the game, including 114-107 with 2 minutes, 48 seconds to play. Edwards delivered seven of his 20 second-half points down the stretch, and they also got a soaring dunk from Jaden McDaniels in the run before they got the ball back with less than 3 seconds to play.
😳😳😳😳😳😳 pic.twitter.com/ScjTWZQfKg
— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) November 17, 2024
“It’s a little bit of a microcosm of our season so far,” Finch said. “We just got to find a way to keep battling and eking out some results until we can catch the rhythm that we know is there.”
For years, Randle has found rhythm in the exact shot that he let fly just before the buzzer. Lean to the left, load up on that leg, spring back to the right, elevate and fire.
“If I get to the right, step back, it’s cash every time,” he said.
This was the sweetest one yet. Of the thousand that have come before it, this was the first one Jayce got to witness in person. He is probably too young for the exact memory to stay with him. But the roar of the crowd might not be as scary for him next time because he knows his dad is the one who is turning up the volume.
(Photo of Julius Randle, Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards: David Berding / Getty Images)
