During Julius Randle ’s five seasons in New York, his son Kyden became almost as big a star as his father. He was a fixture at Madison Square Garden, basking in the glow created by Dad’s emergence as an All-NBA level performer.

Julius Randle’s “welcome to Minnesota” moment came early Sunday evening at Target Center, courtesy of himself.

That led to Gobert slowly walking out of the paint, but it was too late as the referees called a three-second violation. When the Timberwolves started going down the court, Anthony Edwards was seen yelling and frustrated at Gobert.

Sunday’s game against Phoenix went like much of Julius Randle’s season so far in Minnesota — not always pretty, Phoenix led most of the way and had focused on getting the ball of his hands and daring the other Minnesota players to beat them. Still, he found his spots and had 32 points on 10-of-19 shooting.

Randle's first season with the Timberwolves isn't panning out the way Minnesota had hoped when they traded Karl-Anthony Towns.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are struggling with slow starts this season, currently holding a sub-.500 record. Players like Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert admit the team lacks initial urgency and physicality,