As I walked through the concourse following the game to head to the postgame press conference, three separate cheers of, “Wolves in five!” broke out among departing fans. Given how fickle the playoffs can get, I’m not sure of that.
But I’m sure the Warriors don’t have answers for Randle when he’s on the floor with either Rudy Gobert or Naz Reid. Who is going to defend him?
He exploited favorable matchups when he had the ball, either by backing Warriors players down in the paint, shooting over them or just by making open shots. Like during the regular season, he brought the ball up court at times and was a distributor. Other times, on a night the Wolves offense flowed with unselfish ball movement, he found the right player for baskets. And he attacked the boards.
If the Wolves hadn’t been in command in the fourth quarter, which allowed Finch to empty his bench in the final minutes, Randle likely would have had his first postseason triple-double. He finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists.
“You could really see that tonight the game slowed down for him,” Wolves guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. “Especially in that second quarter.”
That’s when Randle was at his best, as tension gripped the Target Center audience.