{"id":119813,"date":"2026-05-05T06:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/julius-randle-we-feel-like-we-left-a-lot-out-there-after-timberwolves-edge-spurs-in-game-1-talkbasket-net\/"},"modified":"2026-05-05T06:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T06:43:22","slug":"julius-randle-we-feel-like-we-left-a-lot-out-there-after-timberwolves-edge-spurs-in-game-1-talkbasket-net","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/05\/julius-randle-we-feel-like-we-left-a-lot-out-there-after-timberwolves-edge-spurs-in-game-1-talkbasket-net\/","title":{"rendered":"Julius Randle: \u201cWe feel like we left a lot out there\u201d after Timberwolves edge Spurs in Game 1 &#8211; TalkBasket.net"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"wpb_video_wrapper\"><noscript><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Julius Randle after Game 1 win over Spurs: &#039;That&#039;s a tone-setter&#039;\" width=\"696\" height=\"392\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xB6N6ObNO5w?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>Julius Randle set the tone early for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their narrow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.talkbasket.net\/217671-timberwolves-outlast-spursin-game-1-thriller-as-edwards-randle-deliver-late\" type=\"post\" id=\"217671\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">104-102 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1<\/a> of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYeah, we were prepared,\u201d Randle said. \u201cWe knew the challenge ahead. Had a couple days to rest, recover, prepare for this. So nothing different for us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota came out of a physical series against Denver and showed early composure in San Antonio, matching the Spurs\u2019 intensity in a game defined by short runs and defensive resistance.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExtremely important,\u201d Randle said of the Game 1 mindset. \u201cThat\u2019s kind of a tone setter for the series. Especially being a road team, for us to come out the way we did, composed, just playing good basketball.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Timberwolves did not fully separate themselves despite leading by as many as nine and trailing by seven at different points. Randle acknowledged the margin for improvement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe feel like we left a lot out there to be honest,\u201d he said. \u201cFeel like we can play a lot better. But just our scrappiness, our heart, our hustle, and our will to win got us through.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama produced a historic defensive outing with 12 blocks, forcing Minnesota to adjust its interior approach throughout the game.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe had to make a little bit of an adjustment there,\u201d Randle said. \u201cBut we were better as the game went on.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota still continued to attack the rim despite the rim protection. Randle explained the logic behind maintaining pressure inside.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not going to just not attack the basket because he\u2019s down there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can be smarter about how we do it, just be a little bit smarter about how we attack him down there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Anthony Edwards, returning unexpectedly from injury, delivered 18 points in 25 minutes and provided a key fourth-quarter burst that stabilized Minnesota\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuge,\u201d Randle said of Edwards\u2019 impact. \u201cFor him to go out and do what he did, his ability to just bounce back and give us whatever he had out there was huge. He made a lot of big shots.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Minnesota also leaned on its depth, with Terrence Shannon Jr., Jaylen Clark, and Bones Hyland contributing in key minutes to maintain pressure on both ends.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe got so much depth,\u201d Randle said. \u201cWe got guys that weren\u2019t getting regular minutes playing and stepping up big.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>San Antonio cut the final margin to two points in the last minute, but Minnesota held on after a missed three-pointer at the buzzer.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFourth quarter we see what happens,\u201d Randle said. \u201cAll of us, I think that\u2019s one of our superpowers, being able to continually up the pressure, continue to play with pace, and continue to wear people down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Game 2 will take place Wednesday in San Antonio, where adjustments on both sides are expected after a tightly contested opener.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.talkbasket.net\/217685-julius-randle-we-feel-like-we-left-a-lot-out-there-after-timberwolves-edge-spurs-in-game-1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Julius Randle set the tone early for the Minnesota Timberwolves in their narrow 104-102 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals on Monday night. \u201cYeah, we were prepared,\u201d Randle said. \u201cWe knew the challenge ahead. Had a couple days to rest, recover, prepare for this. So nothing different [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":119815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/basketball.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}