Heading into Wednesday night's Game 5, the Minnesota Timberwolves could not ask to be in a much better position. What can basically be described as the best-case scenario for this series has unfolded, and outside of Anthony Edwards, there's one other person we can point to as a big reason for that: Julius Randle.
The Timberwolves' bruising forward has been playing the best postseason basketball of his career against the Lakers, and it's a very fitting performance for him given how his role evolved during the second half of Minnesota's regular season. Randle has been winning some key individual matchups and performing like one of the best players in this series.
It's been a fantastic revelation for a player that so many tabbed as a playoff dropper the moment he arrived in Minnesota. Some of those concerns may have been warranted, but Julius showed us as the year went on that he was learning how to operate in a role that is highly beneficial to this team.
Randle explained all season that he was getting more and more comfortable as he got over returning from his injury to begin the year and then getting more accustomed to playing with his new teammates as well. The progression from October to now has been evident.
Finch has allowed Randle to play his game
When it comes to the relationship between Randle and Chris Finch, you couldn't ask for it to be much better, at least from an outside perspective. Seemingly every time Finch gets asked about Randle, he doesn't hold back on showering him with praise, likely due to all the hard work he's seen number 30 put in behind the scenes.
Not to mention the fact that Julius has done it all in the midst of being put in an unfair position and some trying to write him off from day one. But in this series as he did all regular season, Randle gives the Timberwolves an offensive floor that keeps them more consistently stable than they were last season.
Many were skeptical of how Randle would elevate this team in the playoffs, but so far, the experience has been better than most could have envisioned. Julius has been a more consistent performer than Karl-Anthony Towns with everything on the line.
Finch and the coaching staff deserve credit for finding ways to keep Randle comfortable and to maximize his talents. Julius has done the rest, and he has quickly become a Timberwolves fan favorite over the last several weeks.