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.
“Yeah, we were prepared,” Randle said. “We knew the challenge ahead. Had a couple days to rest, recover, prepare for this. So nothing different for us.”
Minnesota came out of a physical series against Denver and showed early composure in San Antonio, matching the Spurs’ intensity in a game defined by short runs and defensive resistance.
“Extremely important,” Randle said of the Game 1 mindset. “That’s 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.”
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.
“We feel like we left a lot out there to be honest,” he said. “Feel like we can play a lot better. But just our scrappiness, our heart, our hustle, and our will to win got us through.”
San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama produced a historic defensive outing with 12 blocks, forcing Minnesota to adjust its interior approach throughout the game.
“We had to make a little bit of an adjustment there,” Randle said. “But we were better as the game went on.”
Minnesota still continued to attack the rim despite the rim protection. Randle explained the logic behind maintaining pressure inside.
“We’re not going to just not attack the basket because he’s down there,” he said. “We can be smarter about how we do it, just be a little bit smarter about how we attack him down there.”
Anthony Edwards, returning unexpectedly from injury, delivered 18 points in 25 minutes and provided a key fourth-quarter burst that stabilized Minnesota’s offense.
“Huge,” Randle said of Edwards’ impact. “For 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.”
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.
“We got so much depth,” Randle said. “We got guys that weren’t getting regular minutes playing and stepping up big.”
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.
“Fourth quarter we see what happens,” Randle said. “All of us, I think that’s one of our superpowers, being able to continually up the pressure, continue to play with pace, and continue to wear people down.”
Game 2 will take place Wednesday in San Antonio, where adjustments on both sides are expected after a tightly contested opener.
