Julius Randle Says He Is Getting Closer to Where He Needs to Be After Win Against Memphis

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won four straight games and sit at 39-23 on the season, and a big reason for Tuesday night's 117-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies was the play of Julius Randle.

The veteran forward has dealt with illness and back spasms coming out of the All-Star break, and it has been obvious at times that he was not at full strength on the floor.

But against Memphis, Randle looked a lot more like himself and finished with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 36 minutes while playing with the kind of force that has made him one of the best power forwards in the league.

After the game, Randle talked about where he is physically and how he feels like he is turning the corner at the right time.

"Every game I feel like I'm physically improving," Randle said. "I'm feeling better now. So, you know, I'm getting to where I need to be to come play all the time."

It has been an up-and-down year for Randle, who signed a three-year, $100 million deal with Minnesota and is averaging 21.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.4 assists per game this season while appearing in all 62 games so far.

He started the year on fire, putting up 26.6 points per game in October while helping the Timberwolves get off to a strong start.

But his production dipped as the season went on, and February was a rough stretch where he averaged just 18.4 points per game while shooting 43.8 percent from the field and a tough 22.7 percent from three.

Right before the All-Star break, though, Randle reminded everyone what he is capable of when he went off for a season-high 41 points on 14-of-24 shooting in a dominant win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

Then the break came and went, and Randle has been battling through illness and lower-back spasms that clearly slowed him down in the first few games back.

He was held to just four points on 1-of-10 shooting in a win over the Los Angeles Clippers, and he showed up as questionable before the Denver game with back issues before gutting out 14 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a win over the Nuggets.

Tuesday's performance against the 23-37 Grizzlies was a step in the right direction for Randle, who played with the kind of physical force and aggression that makes him so tough to deal with when he is at his best.

He got to the free-throw line 12 times and knocked down nine of them while also pulling down 11 boards, and his work in the second half helped give the Wolves some breathing room before Anthony Edwards took over in the fourth quarter with 13 of his 41 points.

The fact that Randle has not missed a single game all season says a lot about how he approaches his job, and he made that point after the game as well.

"If I'm available and I can play, especially this time of year, I'm gonna do it," Randle said. "I put a lot into taking care of my body to be able to recover from things like that."

Randle does not need to be the best player on the floor every night because Edwards is carrying a huge scoring load at 29.5 points per game, but the Timberwolves need him to be a strong and reliable second option if they want to make another deep playoff run.

When Randle is right physically, the pairing of him and Edwards gives Minnesota one of the best one-two punches in the Western Conference, and that showed against Memphis when both players were rolling at the same time.

With 20 games left in the regular season and the Wolves sitting in the top four out West, the timing of Randle's return to form could not be better.

If he keeps trending in the right direction and his body continues to hold up, this team has the pieces to be a real problem in the postseason.