Julius

Randle

With Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels out, the three players the Timberwolves needed production from all struggled on Saturday. Randle shot 2-of-10 from inside the arc, with a 7-of-7 night at the foul line boosting his point total. Naz Reid (8/4/1/2) and Bones Hyland (six points, one rebound, two steals and two three-pointers) shot a combined 5-of-25 from the field, and that won’t get the job done against a team of Detroit’s caliber. They’ll look to rebound on Monday against the Mavericks, and Edwards and McDaniels may be available.

Randle struggled with his shot on Wednesday, but came up big for the Timberwolves down the stretch of overtime. He either scored or assisted on the Wolves’ final seven points, which included a tough go-ahead mid-range jumper to give Minnesota a two-point lead with under 10.0 seconds remaining. The win was a big one for the Timberwolves from a seeding standpoint; with the victory, they move to fifth place in the Western Conference standings and are now one game up in the loss column over the sixth-seeded Rockets. Randle will have a chance to help the Wolves to a third straight win on Saturday when they face the Pistons.

The Timberwolves rebounded from a slow start to pick up their first season sweep of the Celtics since the 1999-2000 season. McDaniels was one of the offensive leaders, helping pick up the slack on a night when Julius Randle (9/10/4/2 with one three-pointer) shot 3-of-14 from the field. McDaniels has scored at least 16 points in four straight games. While that may not seem like much, he has been more assertive on offense since the Timberwolves lost Anthony Edwards (knee); they’ll need him to remain aggressive when Ant-Man returns.

In the two games the Timberwolves have played since losing Anthony Edwards to a knee injury, Randle has totaled 53 points on 17-of-27 shooting from the field. Against the Jazz, he also recorded eight assists and four steals, providing excellent value in those categories. At this rate, Randle is capable of delivering some key wins to fantasy managers looking to win their league title.

Randle struggled coming out of the All-Star break, but he has been excellent over their last two game, scoring 32 points in each. He has been on fire, and they’ll need him to keep it up with Anthony Edwards set to be sidelined for at least a few more games with a knee injury. Randle will be the focal point of the offense until Edwards returns which could lead to more outings like this one, especially with the Jazz up next on the schedule on Wednesday.

Having struggled since the All-Star break, Randle needed a day like Sunday, even if it came in a losing effort. Surpassing the 20-point mark for the second time since the break, the Timberwolves’ forward’s 32 points were the most in a game for him since putting up 41 in the team’s last game before the All-Star break. Minnesota plays four games in Week 21, and fantasy managers will hope for a more consistent Randle.

Unfortunately for those who have Randle on their fantasy rosters, he had another underwhelming performance on Wednesday. A 5-of-5 night from the foul line pushed him into double figures, and the rebounds and assists were solid. However, most fantasy managers who drafted Randle did so with the expectation of bigger scoring numbers. The Timberwolves have two more games in Week 20; hopefully, Randle finishes on a high note.

After going off for 41 points in the Timberwolves’ final game before the All-Star break, Randle has seemingly lost his mojo. With just one 20-point game to his credit since then, he’s averaged 14.4 points per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the field. And with Randle not bringing as much to the table in some of the other major statistical categories, his fantasy value has taken a significant hit. And with the Timberwolves falling to fifth in the West, they’d like to see Randle turn things around as well.

Randle finished one rebound shy of a double-double on Saturday, but the final line felt underwhelming due to the point total. Averaging 21.5 points per game on the season, the Timberwolves forward has just one 20-point game since the All-Star break. The Timberwolves, and those who have him on their fantasy rosters, need more scoring from Randle.

While Randle’s post-All-Star break struggles from beyond the arc continued on Thursday, as he missed both of his attempts, the veteran forward’s overall value has been better recently. Since the break, he’s shot 3-of-21 from distance, and Randle has struggled with that aspect of his game all season. However, the decreased three-point shooting has not done much damage, if any, to his overall fantasy value.