The Minnesota Timberwolves had to come out with a knockout in Game 5 to keep themselves alive in the playoffs. Instead, the Oklahoma City Thunder mercilessly stepped on their throats to advance to the NBA Finals. The Timberwolves didn’t seem prepared to fight for their lives. And while they did battle a superior team, Draymond Green thinks their decisions are what held them back against OKC.
In particular, the Warriors forward didn’t appreciate Chris Finch’s benching of Julius Randle in the fourth quarter when he had a few off nights. “They haven’t been through enough together to do stuff like that,” he said about the situation. Randle criticized himself for not getting involved in offensive sequences.
However, Draymond Green thinks it may have sent the wrong message to Julius Randle as a new member of the team.
“Like benching Julius Randle, he come out, he having a bad game, last game. It’s mentally, he like, man, I’m going to come out. Like, I know I’m about to get subbed out, right? Like I can’t make a mistake, you know? And so there’s just different things, man, that coming out of that, like looking, watching that series that I see coming out that I notice because I’ve been through it, and those are things that you play on in a playoffs,” he said on The Draymond Green Show.
The four-time champion isn’t against such tough decisions per se. While playing under Steve Kerr, he too reminisced about being in Randle’s position. But there was a stark difference between their situations. “For me, it was different because it had never happened before, but we had such a foundation to stand on. We had multiple championships that we had won already to stand on,” Green pointed out.
May 22, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle (30) drives against Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) in the third quarter during game two of the western conference finals for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
Such scenarios can affect a player’s confidence. In those two games, Randle only shot a combined 8 shots. However, the Timberwolves also weren’t in a position to have patience. Finch had to figure something out, and with a serviceable bench, he decided to bank on them.
But still, Green believes Randle should have been given a chance to find his moments because it is only his first season. But more importantly, he felt that was the only way the Timberwolves had a chance to upset the top-seeded OKC.
Draymond Green gave the Timberwolves no chance
The Timberwolves had barged through to the WCF because of their resilience. They weren’t exactly favored against the Los Angeles Lakers. But they wrapped up that series in five games. The same happened against Draymond Green and the Warriors.
In both of those series, Julius Randle was instrumental. He battled using his physicality and strength. Green, a prideful defender, even admitted he lost the battle against the former Knicks. So in terms of his capabilities, the former All-Star can turn things around in a quarter.
And when playing against a better team, that’s all the spark the other team needs, according to Green.
“When I saw that, right, like when I say I’ve seen things come from them that I really don’t like, like, let’s face it, OKC is the better team. No question, but just because you’re the better team don’t mean that you win. But when you are facing a team that’s better, all of those things have to be right. And if those things aren’t right, then you have no chance,” Green shared.
Even though the Timberwolves were trailing, the Warriors forward believes it takes one game to turn the series around. However, he didn’t give them a chance in Game 5 because of their poor decision-making in such situations.
That’s exactly what happened. The Timberwolves got outplayed from tip-off, and there was nothing they could do about it. But while they did fail, they have an important offseason for decision-making. Maybe they could use their playoff performance as the basis to make roster decisions and better position themselves to break their Finals drought soon.
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