Randle shares Minnesota's simple strategy for overcoming frustrating losses and finding their footing again.
The Minnesota Timberwolves are stuck in a familiar cycle this season, and Sunday's 115-96 blowout loss to the Los Angeles Clippers was more proof that this team can't seem to find any consistency.
Julius Randle spoke to reporters after the game and was asked about how Minnesota handles stretches like this one, where the losses pile up and frustration grows.
His answer was simple and straight to the point, touching on how the group handles adversity without needing a lot of outside noise or extra motivation to get back on track.
Randle Keeps It Simple
"It's been good. We respond, like I said, pretty well, not really much that's said, but we understand as a team what we need to do," Randle said.
It's the kind of answer you'd expect from a veteran like Randle, who has been through his share of ups and downs in the NBA.
He's not the type to panic after a rough stretch, and he believes the Timberwolves know how to pick themselves up and move forward without making things bigger than they need to be.
Randle finished Sunday's loss with 17 points, eight rebounds, and two assists, but the game was never really close after the Los Angeles Clippers went on an 18-2 run late in the second quarter that blew the game open heading into halftime.
Kawhi Leonard torched Minnesota for 41 points and eight rebounds, putting together one of the best individual performances of the season against a defense that looked like it wanted to be anywhere else.
The Timberwolves shot just 8-of-33 from three-point range and turned the ball over 20 times, getting held under 100 points for only the second time all season.
A Pattern That Won't Go Away
The loss dropped Minnesota to 32-22 on the season, and the most concerning part is that the Timberwolves have now lost three of their last four games, with all of those defeats coming against teams with sub-.500 records.
That includes a brutal home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans just two days earlier, where the Wolves blew an 18-point third-quarter lead and fell 119-115 to one of the worst teams in the league.
It was a loss so bad that Rudy Gobert went public with his frustrations, calling for benchings of players who don't bring enough effort on defense.
The inconsistency has been the story of Minnesota's season.
They've beaten three of the top four teams in the NBA by record, but they've also lost to four of the six worst teams.
They can look like a championship contender one night and then come out flat and lifeless the next, and it's a pattern that has followed them for much of the year.
Anthony Edwards led Minnesota with 23 points in Sunday's loss, but even the All-Star guard couldn't get much going against a Clippers team that was missing its two newest trade deadline pickups in Darius Garland and Bennedict Mathurin.
What Comes Next
On a brighter note, new trade acquisition Ayo Dosunmu made his Timberwolves debut on Sunday and finished with 11 points and two steals in 25 minutes, even if his game-low minus-33 showed how rough the overall team effort was.
Dosunmu was brought in at the deadline from Chicago to fill a hole in the backcourt, and brighter days should be ahead as he gets more comfortable with the system and his new teammates.
Minnesota doesn't have much time to dwell on this one, as they host the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night.
Randle believes the team knows what it takes to respond, and the locker room doesn't need any long speeches or emotional meetings to figure things out.
The question is whether that quiet confidence is enough to stop the Timberwolves from falling into another funk heading into the All-Star break.