Julius Randle wasn’t going to let this game go to overtime.
Instead, the Minnesota Timberwolves forward sent Josh Okogie down to his back and drilled a buzzer-beater that sent the Target Center into a frenzy.
Randle hit a perfect 3-pointer right as time expired on Sunday afternoon to lift the Timberwolves to a 120-117 win over the Phoenix Suns in Minneapolis. After catching an inbounds pass with less than three seconds left in the game, Randle got past Okogie — who got crossed up a bit at the top of the arc and fell back — and sank his step-back bucket before sprinting down to the opposite end of the court.
He finished with a team-high 35 points and seven assists in the win. His final bucket was his fifth made 3-pointer of the afternoon. Randle is in his first season with the Timberwolves this fall after he was dealt there in a deal that sent star Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in October.
Randle, 29, is in the third year of a four-year, $117 million deal. He averaged 24 points and 9.2 rebounds last year with the Knicks while earning his third All-Star nod and helping the team reach the Eastern Conference semifinals for a second straight season.
The Suns led nearly the entire day on Sunday. They took a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime, and then they mounted a long stretch where they held the Timberwolves without a made field goal for nearly four full minutes midway through the fourth quarter. But, after a four-point play from Randle that cut the game back to just five points, Minnesota ended the game on a 13-5 tear to grab the three-point win.
Devin Booker led the Suns with 44 points, seven assists and six rebounds in the loss. He went 6-of-13 from behind the arc, too. Grayson Allen added 18 points off the bench, and Tyus Jones finished with 13 points and 11 assists. The Suns are still without star Kevin Durant, who is out with a calf injury. Okogie has started in Durant’s place. They Suns 9-5 on the season, though they’ve lost four of their last five games.
Anthony Edwards added 24 points in the win for the Timberwolves, who now sit at 8-6 on the season after their second straight win. Donte DiVincenzo finished 15 points off the bench, too. Sunday’s game was Minnesota’s lone home game in a six game stretch. The Timberwolves will head out to take on the Toronto Raptors in Canada next on Thursday.