After the Timberwolves went down 2-1 against the Spurs, the theme of the game was that Anthony Edwards had minimal help. Despite playing on two bad knees, he put up an exceptional 32 points, 14 rebounds, and six assists. Naz Reid played well off the bench, contributing an efficient 18 points, but other than that, it was a lot of inefficient play.
This was headlined by Julius Randle and Jaden McDaniels. Randle was 3-for-12 for 12 points, but what was even more jarring than that was his zero assists. McDaniels was 5-for-22; he actually shot well from 3-point range, but inside the arc was abysmal for him. The silver lining with his performance was playing pretty solid defense on De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle.
Minnesota has been banking on Randle to be Ant's co-star, but far too often, he hasn't filled this void, and Game 3 was yet another example of this.
Julius Randle needs to find more ways to be effective on offense
It's no secret that when the Wolves play a team with elite rim protection, Julius Randle struggles. His game predicates itself on getting to the rim with a mix of brute strength and footwork, and when the rim is taken away, he isn't a consistent enough outside shooter to make up for it. This is where his passing needs to be a focus, but so far in this series, it hasn't been.
In the regular season, Randle averaged 5 assists per game, but against the Spurs in the playoffs so far, that number is down to 1.3. What makes this even worse is that he's averaging 4 turnovers per game in this series, in addition to the low assist numbers. The Wolves, despite the loss, found a formula that worked in Game 3, and it was driving and kicking to shooters, especially in the corner.
Randle needs to use his drive and kick game much better than he has. He was elite during the regular season, but against the Spurs, it has disappeared. Continuing to challenge Wemby at the rim won't work, but finding open shooters will.
This series is showing that Anthony Edwards needs a more consistent co-star
Julius Randle does a lot of things well, but unfortunately, consistency hasn't been one of them during his Wolves tenure. There are certain matchups where he dominates, but there are others where he looks unplayable. Anthony Edwards is 60 percent of himself right now and is still far and away this team's best player, and that is a problem.
The Timberwolves have a lot of premier role players in the NBA, and they have a borderline top-five guy to go along with that. But every Batman needs a Robin, especially in the playoffs.
Julius Randle was brought here to be the Robin to Anthony Edwards, but too many times in big moments, he's been nowhere to be found. It's becoming increasingly clear that the Wolves will have to address this problem in the offseason.
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