SACRAMENTO, Calif. – In a jubilant Minnesota Timberwolves locker room, Anthony Edwards smiled broadly and whooped and hollered about his growing maturity that helped seal a hard-fought 117-115 victory over the Sacramento Kings.

Mike Conley walked around the room, nudging his teammates, balancing in front of Naz Reid and instilling encouragement in the rest of the group. Rudy Gobert slumped into the chair in front of his locker after shaking his head in recognition of the groove the Wolves found on defense in the second half.

And then there was Julius Randle, the new guy, still trying to find his way. He sat in the corner and took everything in calmly. In a well-connected team that gets along so well that laughter, jokes and trash talk come easily, they understand that Randle’s personality is tuned to a much lower volume. That may be why so many of them spoke up for him after Randle took over the offense in the first half.

“Ohhhhh my God,” Edwards cheered to sideline reporter Lea B. Olsen after the game. “We told him this morning: Don’t fit in with us, we’ll fit in with you. He showed us today.”

Randle finished the game with 33 points, five rebounds and four assists. He made 13 of 17 shots, including 5 of 6 from 3-point range, and the aggressiveness with which he played was much more reminiscent of the three-time All-Star he was in New York than the timid one , uncertain player, he played his Minnesota debut against the Lakers.

After that game, coach Chris Finch and so many of his teammates begged Randle not to be shy. This is a new team, a new system and Randle didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. But that’s exactly what the Timberwolves need from him. He’s a bully, the kind of one-man wrecking tape who can cause so much offense for himself and his teammates.

On a team still in the very early stages of finding a new identity after trading Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, Randle’s aggressiveness can help drag them through the mud, until it finds the highway.

They were a disorganized, turnover-prone mess in the opening game against the Lakers and in the first half against the Kings, when they turned the ball over 10 times. While his teammates shot at 34 percent, Randle made eight of 10 shots, including four three-pointers, to keep the Timberwolves within striking distance at the break.

😮‍💨😮‍💨😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/aVNnlBJbfE

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 25, 2024

“Killing it,” said Naz Reid, who had 19 points and 13 rebounds in front of the rabid fan base that loudly protested last season when he won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year award over Sacramento’s Malik Monk. “He’s just getting used to it. It’s fun to watch too. He was just coming out of a predicament where he didn’t know what was going on. We are all happy for him and happy for him. We are all happy that he is here.”

This mood was noticeable throughout the team on Thursday evening. Randle may have received many individual accolades in his career, but he knows he will be replacing a player who played nine seasons with the Wolves with a presence that resonated on and off the court. He also knows that this is Edwards’ team and he is here to make his life easier.

Randle said he needed to hear Finch and his teammates encouraging him to be more confident.

“Of course that doesn’t just come from the coach, but from a lot of people who just tell me to be myself. Just be who I am,” Randle said. “They trust me to make the right plays.”

Once Randle took control of the offense, things started to open up for Edwards. The Kings focused on the star guard in the first half, trying to keep him from pushing to the rim and limiting his opportunities. Edwards was just 3 of 9 for nine points, with seven of those shot attempts coming from 3. The big man’s injury made them think twice in the second half, and that was all Edwards needed.

SHEEEESH 😮‍💨 pic.twitter.com/xfieXPkaNa

— Minnesota Timberwolves (@Timberwolves) October 25, 2024

Edwards scored 23 of his 32 points after halftime, including 13 in the fourth quarter. With the score tied at 115, Edwards had a chance to show how much his game has evolved in his fifth season. The Kings sent a double team on him to take the ball out of his hands, and Edwards threw it to Mike Conley to throw Sacramento into disarray. Conley gave the ball right back as the double broke.

“He better give it back,” Edwards said. “I’m going to put him in a chokehold.”

In his younger years, Edwards might have settled for a retreating 3-pointer in this situation. But when he passed the ball quickly and then got it back from Conley, he was one-on-one with Keegan Murray, and Edwards put his head down and shot to the rim. He drew a foul and knocked down both free throws, giving the decisive lead that had just elapsed when Murray’s desperation 3 passed the buzzer.

“Maybe a year ago I probably would have tried to go left and do a step back,” Edwards said. “But you should become more mature as you get older. I played a mature game and made Finch happy by getting to the rim.”

The Timberwolves shot 50 three-pointers in the game and made 20 of them. And after the defense was nowhere to be found for the first six and a half quarters of the season, they finally started to come together late in the third quarter when an 11-0 run helped them take the lead. The Kings shot 49 percent in the first three quarters and just 38 percent in the fourth.

Edwards and Randle combined for 65 points, 10 three-pointers and eight assists, and they’re not even in sync. Randle led the first half while the offense stalled, and Edwards took over in the second half as the Wolves began to find more rhythm. But it offered a glimpse of what both players are capable of when they benefit from each other.

Randle will be counted on to get others involved, but one thing the Timberwolves need from him is his ability to simply get a bucket when nothing else is working. They didn’t have enough of that in their Western Conference finals loss to Dallas. It happens to be one of Randle’s best qualities.

“That’s why he’s here,” Edwards said. “He did a great job there. We want him to continue to do that. Don’t think about passing the ball to anyone. Shoot it.”

This is what Randle needs to hear. He needs that support and encouragement in a new environment. He needs to know that it’s okay to take over when the situation calls for it.

“Ant needs this from me because the defense is overloading him,” Randle said. “So he needs me to be aggressive out there, to take the pressure off him too. I felt that and everything just came with the flow of the offense.”

This approach allowed the Timberwolves to allow Edwards to win the game down the stretch. Had it not been for Randle’s first-half performance, a red-hot Kings offense could have run away with the game. And the Wolves made sure Randle knew how much he was valued in his new home.

“He was phenomenal,” Finch said. “He set the tone, kept us in the game early, almost all by himself. This line-up in particular is currently struggling to find a good rhythm. He was decisive. He shot the ball well, set up a lot of shots for his teammates and played with great physicality.”

(Photo by Julius Randle: Rocky Widner / NBAE via Getty Images)