The Minnesota Timberwolves came bitterly close to evening their Western Conference Finals series against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
Sadly, their starters weren’t able to be consistent and help the team cross the finish line, and now they are in a 3-1 hole.
Speaking on “Run It Back,” Lou Williams had some harsh criticism for Julius Randle, who had one of his worst nights of the season.
He said that the Timberwolves’ performance will be a “hard pill” for them to swallow in the summer and stated that Randle needs to play better moving forward.
.@TeamLou23 calls Julius Randle's Game 4 performance 'unacceptable' 😬
"He's gotta play better. … This was a 2-point game and you have a guy that shoots 1-7…gonna be a hard pill for them to swallow in the offseason, knowing they were so close to these opportunities." pic.twitter.com/QCUBFf2oiz
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) May 27, 2025
Randle was basically a non-entity in Monday’s game, scoring five points and going 1-of-7 from the field as well as 0-of-3 from the three-point line.
To make matters even worse for the Timberwolves, Anthony Edwards also had a bad night, and that only hurt the team more.
This is a squad that cannot survive if both Randle and Edwards are performing poorly.
Randle was brought to Minnesota as a way to take pressure off Edwards’ shoulders.
The team is not assembled to succeed when both of these stars are struggling.
The Timberwolves lost by just two points, which makes Randle’s five total points even more painful.
Fans are already thinking about how things could have been different if only he had a few more minutes of good action.
Randle was playing quite well during the playoffs, but he has faced his fair share of problems against the Thunder.
Like so many other NBA players, he has discovered just how talented and challenging OKC is.
Unfortunately, his poor performance on Monday cost his team the game, and it may have cost them the season too.
NEXT: Stats Show How Timberwolves' Bench Dominated In Game 4