Minnesota Timberwolves Forward Julius Randle was benched last night during Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In total, Randle had just 6 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds. To top it off, he recorded an abysmal 18.2 field goal percentage.
Julius Randle Needs to Be Better
This is painfully obvious, but Julius Randle has to be better. Although, it’ll be hard to be much worse than his performance last night. Randle wasn’t brought in from New York to be the best scorer on the team, because that title belongs to Anthony Edwards. But, the expectation around Randle is to be somewhere between a team’s second to third-best scorer.
Right now, the Minnesota Timberwolves’ offense is Anthony Edwards and a little bit of Jaden McDaniels. Edwards is the only player in Minnesota who is consistently producing great offensive production, which is leading to a bigger problem.
The Minnesota Timberwolves Bench Is Non-Existent
Julius Randle’s poor performance wouldn’t be getting as much scrutiny as it is if the Timberwolves secondary scoring and bench were giving them more production, but that’s not the case. Donte DiVincenzo has 17 points in two games, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was great in Game 2 with 17 points, but he had just 8 points in Game 1.
It might be nitpicking, but the Timberwolves need more from their entire team. Neither of these games have been completely close, and neither have the depth and dominance of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Timberwolves are a great team, but Oklahoma City is so dominant from top to bottom. They are playing so well that Minnesota will need to play a perfect game to win.
Stats From the First Two Games
As stated above, Edwards and McDaniels were the only Minnesota Timberwolves to record double-digit points. Mike Conley had 3, Rudy Gobert had 5, and of course, Randle had 6. Oklahoma City beat out Minnesota in field goal percentage at 50 percent to 41.4, and free throw percentage at 79.2 percent to 76.9 percent.
In Game 2, the only things Minnesota was beating the Thunder in were three-pointers, offensive rebounds, and blocks. The Thunder were better than Minnesota in every other aspect, which is reflected in the final score.
Last Thoughts
If the Minnesota Timberwolves can’t get more scoring from Randle, the series will be over quickly. They need both Randle and Edwards at the top of their game. They’ll also need Gobert to take his defensive game to the elite level he’s known for.
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