The Minnesota Timberwolves sent a statement on their home floor Saturday night and Julius Randle made sure it was delivered loud and clear.
In the Timberwolves’ 143-101 Game 3 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, Randle bounced back from a quiet Game 2 performance with a powerful 24-point effort that helped Minnesota get their first win in the best of seven series, where the Thunder still currently hold a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference Finals. From the opening tip, the former New York Knicks All-Star set the tone with his aggression, physicality, and playmaking instincts — traits that hark back to one of his basketball inspirations: Anthony Mason.
“Shoutout to Mase he was ahead of his time,” Randle said postgame, reflecting on the late Knicks great. “Really, really great player. Ahead of his time, for sure with how he played.”
Randle’s admiration for Mason goes beyond nostalgia. Like Mason, Randle embodies the rare breed of forward who can initiate offense, attack off the dribble, and create plays for others. That versatility was on full display in Game 3, and it’s been a key reason he’s fit so seamlessly into a Timberwolves team anchored by veteran point guard Mike Conley Jr.
“Mike is somebody who can play with anybody,” Randle explained. “He makes the game really easy. He’s a seamless fit in any of the rotations we have out there. He can play on the ball, off the ball, so the biggest thing for us is we learned each others strengths and weaknesses, learn how to help each other out there.”
Randle praised Conley’s unselfish play and his ability to simplify the game.
“A lot of times I want Mike to bring the ball up and have the ball in his hands,” Randle told me following last night’s win.
“He’s going to make the easy play, the right play. I know if I set a good screen he’s going to get me downhill in the pocket; or if I get a switch, he’s going to get the right spacing and let me have those isos when I need them. He’s always going to be in the right place when I have the ball. I know he can bail me out if I get in the crowded paint. He’s right there for catch and shoot threes; he just makes the game easy for me and I try to always almost rely on that safety valve because he’s just seamless in everything he does.”
Randle’s bounce-back performance wasn’t just about Xs and Os — it started with mindset. Ahead of tipoff, Timberwolves assistant coach Chris Hines made a timely call in the locker room that helped flip a switch.
“Me usually, I’m like Drake or Nipsey Hussle,” Randle said. “I think Hines wanted Future. But, it was a Jeezy kind of day and I actually like that. I like that. I need some Jeezy to get me going today. So yeah, it put me in the right mindset.”
It was Soul Survivor by Young Jeezy and Akon that lit the fuse.
“I just know I had to get it out the mud,” Randle said. “So he put on Jeezy and it just got my mind right. So yeah, it really don’t matter. I just know I had to come out with the right mindset and just be aggressive.”
Aggressive he was. Randle got downhill early, punished mismatches, and never let up. It was the kind of performance that reminded fans — and maybe even the Thunder — what he’s capable of when locked in.
As the series shifts to Game 4, the Timberwolves have momentum, and Julius Randle has found his rhythm. With the spirit of Anthony Mason in his playmaking, Mike Conley Jr. as his steady backcourt partner, and Young Jeezy in his earbuds, Randle’s message is clear: he’s here to work, and he’s built for this.
