Powered by a Julius Randle triple-double and a second-half explosion from star forward Anthony Edwards, the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the Golden State Warriors 102-97 to take a 2-1 series lead in the conference semifinals on Friday night at Chase Center.

Minnesota needed someone to stabilize the ship to get across the finish line first in enemy waters. As has often been the case over the past couple months, that person was Julius Randle.

Last offseason, when the Knicks and Timberwolves pulled off a blockbuster trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for a package built around Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, it was New York that was widely declared the winner of the deal.