Julius Randle Shreds Knicks in 4th & Howls to the Wind. Minnesota 115 NY 104

December 24, 2025 LouV 2025-26 0
KAT had 40 pts and 13 rebounds, but Randle had last howl -- scoring 17 pts in the 4th quarter for 25 overall. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

Julius Randle was being out-played all night by Karl-Anthony Towns, but ferociously ripped the Knicks apart in the 4th quarter to lead the Timberwolves to a 115-104 on a Tuesday night in Minnesota.

Randle figuratively howled at the Knicks bench after dynamic scores during the 4th — at one point showing off his muscles, another time staring the bench down — clearly opining to NY that they should not have traded him a year and a half ago. The announcers on MSG noted that there was nobody on the bench who was here when Randle last played for the Knicks, as coach Tom Thibodeau has been replaced with Mike Brown, some of the assistant coaches have changed, and the Knick bench had Ariel Hukporti, Pacome Dadiet, Tosan Evbuomwan, Kevin McCullar Jr., and Trey Jemison III — all newcomers — sitting there.

So maybe Randle was howling at the wind, but his performance ended up eclipsing KAT’s big night — Towns finished with 40 points on 14-24 shooting (3-6 from 3) with 13 rebounds in his former home arena.

Randle Was Laying in the “Weed”s?

Randle entered the 4th having a quiet night with 8 pts in an 85-79 game, Minnesota with a slight lead — but began attacking the rim to put the game away for the Wolves. He scored 17 in the period for 25 pts overall.

The MSG announcers said he seemed to have been laying in the weeds — and said that was an accidental double entendre of Randle stating before this season that quitting weed after the Knicks trade to the Timberwolves improved his mental health and helped him stay present.

No Brunson, No McBride — But NY Had Kolek

NY was without Jalen Brunson and OG Anunoby — and Miles McBride and Landry Shamet remain out as well. Minnesota was led most of the night by Ant Man, Anthony Edwards, who finished with 38 pts on 15-27 shooting (4-10 from 3).

Tyler Kolek was a hero for NY — scoring a career-high 20 pts (on 9-22 shooting, 2-6 from 3), with 8 assists, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals in 31 minutes.

Ant Man Starred Too

Minny took a 16-pt lead in the 2nd quarter, which KAT and the Knicks sliced down to a point (at 53-52) just before the half. Minny again pushed out to a 10-pt lead in the 3rd quarter, but Kolek helped NY erase that and take the lead midway through the period. The game remained close until Randle took over in the 4th.

Coach Finch’s Thoughts on Randle

“Same thing as usual,” said Minnesota coach Chris Finch about Randle afterwards. “He just picked up his energy, his force, his thrust, he played in clean lines, he didn’t over complicate anything… his defense was excellent.”

NY falls to 20-9; Minnesota improves to 20-10. Both teams were red-hot coming in — the Wolves have now gone 10-2 in their last 12, and beat Oklahoma last week.

1. KAT & Ant Man Dominate the 1st Half

Karl-Anthony Towns was coming off a 2-pt performance in a win over XXX, wherein he only took 5 shots because Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and everyone else on the Knicks was lighting it up so much.

But with Brunson and OG out for this one, KAT came out looking to step it up from the start — especially in his old home Minnesota, where he expressed he loved playing.

With Brunson and McBride out, Tyler Kolek started for the Knicks at the point.

The teams went back and forth in the 1st quarter — KAT dominating the Knick scoring, while Minny had a distributed attack from Anthony Edwards, Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Naz Reid, Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley.

2. Minny Takes 16-Pt Lead in 2nd; NY Pulls Back within a Point

Bones Hyland came in to be a pain in the ass as he normally is against the Knicks, hitting three 3’s early in the 2nd quarter to give Minny a 44-30 lead.

Rudy Gobert got a bucket inside off an offensive rebound and the Wolves were up 16 at 46-30.

But KAT came right back with 6 straight points on a jumper, free throws off a drive, and another drive to slice the lead to 10. Josh Hart joined in with a drive-and-1, KAT dunked inside off a Jordan Clarkson assist, Clarkson hit a 3, Mikal Bridges hit a 3, and Clarkson hit another 3 and NY was within 53-52 with 55 seconds left in the half.

The Wolves scored 5 pts in the last 35 seconds however — a DiVincenzo 3 and Gobert offensive rebound and tip-in — for a Minnesota 58-52 halftime lead.

3. Minny Takes 12-Pt Lead in 3rd

Mike Conley and Anthony Edwards hit 3’s early in the 3rd and Minny was up 12 again, at 64-52.

4. Kolek Leads Knicks Back to Take Lead

But Tyler Kolek continued to push back hard — taking control offensively with a pullup and a 3, and orchestrating the Knick offense.

KAT hit a 3 off a Josh Hart assist, and Bridges hit a 3 off a Kolek assist — and NY had a 69-67 lead.

5. Edwards Gets Hot at End of 3rd

But Anthony Edwards pushed back — with defense and offense — hitting a pullup, a step-back, and a 3-pointer, and a dunk off a steal of a Josh Hart pass and Minnesota was up 80-74.

NY pushed back to within 82-79, but Jaylen Clark hit a 3 with 1 second left in the quarter to put Minny back up by 6 — a deflating shot for NY.

6. Randle Goes Off in 4th

NY was down 89-83 in the 4th when Julius Randle scored on a drive off a DiVincenzo steal — and that seemed to ignite Randle. He then hit a fadeway and a 12-footer.

And then he dunked off a steal of a Josh Hart pass and the Wolves were up 97-85 as Randle demonstrably stared at the Knick bench

Tyler Kolek continued to penetrate and score for NY — as the Wolves double-teamed KAT.

Kolek hit a drive and a 3 to pull NY within 7 at 97-90 with 6:13 left.

But Randle again answered with a drive-and-1 off a DiVincenzo assist, then made 2 free throws off a dive and it was 104-90 Minny with 4:56 left.

An Anthony Edwards steal of a Josh Hart pass and dunk put Minny up 16 with 4:43 left. It was looking bad for NY.

Still the Knicks came back — KAT with a 3, Hart with a drive, and Hart with a 3 to pull NY within 109-100 with 3:10 left.

But again Randle replied with a bucket for a 111-100 Wolves lead with 2:44 left.

Tyler Kolek got fouled on a drive, but after a challenge and review Mitchell Robinson was called for an offensive foul and the Knicks were pretty much done.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810271

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