Julius Randle has high praise for star teammate's leadership following win over Thunder

Julius Randle, for his part, had a huge bounce-back performance following his late-game benching in Game 2. The 10th-year forward delivered an efficient and impactful 24 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a team-best plus/minus of +38. 

During Randle’s postgame news conference, however, he was quick to credit his teammates, and specifically Anthony Edwards, for the team's strong performance. 

Randle made sure to emphasize the importance not only of Edwards' on-court talents, but his off-court leadership as well. 

"He’s the definition of selfless," Randle said assertively in response to a question regarding the leadership of Edwards. "He’s very mature. And very in tune with the team."

Despite only being in Minnesota for this season, it's clear that Randle has been genuinely impressed by the growth of his young co-star as a teammate. Regardless of their age difference, the level of mutual respect held between Randle (30) and Edwards (23) is wholly apparent. 

The on-court chemistry between Minnesota's two offensive stars has undoubtedly been a catalyst for its run to the conference finals, and Randle’s continued vocal support for Edwards’ leadership has to be adding fuel to Edwards’ overall confidence. 

Minnesota still has a long way to go to put a scare into the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the 143-101 drubbing it offered on Saturday night was certainly a good start. The Thunder are sure to come back with a vengeance following their worst loss of the season — by far — but if the Wolves stars continue to lead the way, this series could get very interesting very quickly. 

With Edwards leading the way and Randle continuing to follow suit with his aggressive, confident play, all eyes will be on Monday when Game 4 rolls around.