Minnesota Timberwolves star Julius Randle did all he could against Nikola Jokic on Tuesday night. Despite Randle's best effort on the defensive end, however, the Denver Nuggets big man still went off for a career-high 61 points in what turned out to be a memorable performance for Jokic.
The silver lining for Randle and the Wolves, though, is that they were able to escape with a 140-139 victory in double overtime despite Jokic's record-breaking 61-point triple-double.
After the game, Randle was asked how he felt physically after going toe-to-toe with Jokic for 50 minutes. The Wolves big man got brutally honest in his response.
"I feel terrible," Randle admitted. "I feel absolutely awful. My body's in shock.
"But that's why you train, that's why you lift, that's why you put the extra hours in -- to be able to play through games like this."
Apart from trying to do everything he could to hold Jokic down on the defensive end, Randle also chipped in with 26 points on 11-of-22 shooting, to go along with nine rebounds, even assists, a steal and four triples.
At this point, Randle is just glad to have come out on top.
"I'm just happy we came out with a win," Randle said. "If we came out 50 minutes and a loss, I'd probably feel a little bit worse."
Julius Randle when asked how he feels physically after playing 50 minutes against Nikola Jokic...
"I feel terrible. I feel absolutely awful." pic.twitter.com/kWHQdSBMgR
— Dane Moore (@DaneMooreNBA) April 2, 2025
Randle had nothing but high praise for Jokic after the latter's mind-blowing outing. He described Jokic's performance as "incredible" and "absolutely ridiculous." In fact, Randle ran out of superlatives, admitting that he does not "know how to explain it."
Be that as it may, Randle and the Wolves still deserve a ton of credit for being able to weather the storm. Jokic may have been the one who grabbed the headlines after the highest-scoring triple-double in NBA history, but at the end of the day, it was Minnesota who came home with the win.
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This story was originally published April 2, 2025 at 4:20 AM.