The Minnesota Timberwolves faced off against their 2024 Playoff opponents, the Phoenix Suns tonight and walked away with a 120-117 win courtesy of a Julius Randle game-winner. Randle hit an incredible three over Josh Okogie to seal the win in a 35-point night.
JULIUS RANDLE GAME WINNER. 🔥🔥
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 17, 2024
Suns fans and primarily coach Mike Budenholzer are pissed at the referees for not calling a foul on Randle pushing off Okogie to get open for his three.
“Good coverage, good switches. Credit to Randle. He made a tough shot. That’s a push off earlier in the game. Not called a push off late. That can be frustrating. Consistency from the start of the game to end of game.”
Julius Randle had 35 points (11-20 FG) and seven assists on the night, with Anthony Edwards contributing 24 points (9-14 FG) of his own. This was the 10th game this season where both Randle and Edwards had over 20 points. Donte DiVincenzo broke out of a recent slump to score 15 points (5-11 FG) off the bench, while Naz Reid also had 13 points (4-10 FG). Rudy Gobert notched a double-double with 11 points (4-8 FG) and 10 rebounds.
The Suns’ record has been sliding since Kevin Durant and Bradley Beal picked up injuries and the team’s hot 9-2 start to the season dissipated with their third loss in a row. Devin Booker tried his hardest, putting up 44 points (15-29 FG), six rebounds, and seven assists in the narrow loss with only two teammates scoring double-digit points to complement him.
Anthony Edwards reacted to Randle’s incredible shot, referring to rapper Bossman D’Low, who has a lyric about Julius Randle’s left-handed shot.
“I’m happy as hell. There’s a song that Bossman D’Low got, ‘Brodie shoot with the left hand, Julius Randle.’ That’s what we were playing when we walked in here tonight… That’s what he do, everytime we played when he was in New York, he cooked us. Finchy does a great job of telling him to get back into it and take control of the game, and he did that tonight.”
Was able to ask @theantedwards_ about @J30_RANDLE ‘s big shot to win the game and his huge performance carrying the team offensively today. Also shoutout to Ant Man for the @bossman_dlow reference too 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/FxZMAgiEWi
— SneakerReporter (@SneakerReporter) November 17, 2024
The Suns record has dropped to 9-5 with their recent seven-game win streak already feeling like a distant memory. There are no contention hopes for Phoenix without Durant available, which is why Budenholzer will be extra upset about losing this game on what he believes to be a push-off. They needed this win in their chamber but will hope to bounce back against a feisty Orlando Magic in their next game.
The Timberwolves are trying to reverse a slow start to the season, and with this win, they will improve their record to 8-6. Their next game against the Toronto Raptors should be a tricky one, but the Raptors are the worst team in the NBA right now and Minny will be confident in their ability to pick up a strong win.
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