The easiest version of Minnesota's Game 2 win is the familiar one: Anthony Edwards took over, the Timberwolves woke up, the series is even. All of that is true. It is also incomplete.
What made the 119-114 comeback feel sturdier was Julius Randle scoring 24 points while the Wolves climbed out of a 19-point first-quarter hole. That is the kind of number that changes the shape of a rally. It means the comeback did not rely entirely on Edwards performing emergency surgery on every possession.
This matters because Game 1 already showed Minnesota the danger of an incomplete supporting cast. Randle had 16 points in that 116-105 loss, and the broader read on that opener was that he and Jaden McDaniels were not good enough. In Game 2, the Wolves still needed Edwards' 30, but they also needed another scorer who could keep the offense from becoming predictable.
Randle fit that job better than the box score alone suggests. Jaden McDaniels said Minnesota's plan was to attack Denver's defenders. A comeback from that deep only works if someone besides the lead guard can absorb contact, create a decent look, and keep the floor from shrinking. Randle's 24 points were the calmer part of the rally, which is another way of saying they were essential.
That is why he feels like the sharper takeaway a day later. Edwards will always own the spotlight in this matchup, and deservedly so. But a tied series against Denver is not built on highlights alone. It is built on whether Minnesota can avoid turning every tough stretch into an Edwards rescue act. On April 20, Randle helped make sure it did not have to.