"Too late" - Julius Randle mocks NBA's L2M report highlighting a violation on Timberwolves star's game-winner shot
Minnesota Timberwolves star Julius Randle had a humorous reaction when asked about the NBA’s L2M report, which revealed he had committed a traveling violation before hitting his buzzer-beating 3-pointer against the Phoenix Suns on Sunday.
Randle’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer capped off his 35-point performance, leading the Timberwolves to a 120-117 victory over the Suns, marking their eighth win of the season.
The L2M report stated that Randle had lifted his pivot foot before releasing his dribble on his 24-footer. When asked about it on Tuesday, Randle jokingly replied that it was "too late" to call it.
“Too late! Too late! You should have called it there,” he said.
In real-time, Randle didn't think he had traveled but later learned from his wife that he had. He shrugged it off, saying he didn’t care.
“I honestly didn't even know and my wife, she told me. She said something — made a joke about me traveling or something like that — I was like, ‘I don't care. It's over with now,’” he said.
The win was huge for the erratic Timberwolves, who overcame a season-high 44 points from Devin Booker.
Anthony Edwards contributed 24 points and six assists, while Donte DiVincenzo added 15 points off the bench.
Suns coach thinks Julius Randle committed a different violation before buzzer-beating triple
Suns coach Mike Budenholzer had a different perspective on the game-winning shot. While the referees ruled Randle had traveled, Budenholzer believed Randle had pushed off his defender, Josh Okogie.
"Good coverage, good switches. Credit to Randle. He made a tough shot. That's a push off earlier in the game. Not called a push off late. That can be frustrating. Consistency from the start of the game to end of game," he said (per Duane Rankin).
It was a tough loss for the Suns, who were missing both Bradley Beal and Kevin Durant. For the Timberwolves, especially Anthony Edwards, it was a satisfying result.
"I'm happy as hell. There's a song that Bossman D'Low got, 'Brodie shoot with the left hand, Julius Randle.' That's what we were playing when we walked in here tonight,” Edwards said.
“That's what he do, every time we played when he was in New York, he cooked us. Finchy does a great job of telling him to get back into it and take control of the game, and he did that tonight."
Julius Randle joined the Timberwolves as part of the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks.