Julius Randle knows a thing or two about having a supremely confident teammate, and he put Anthony Edwards on that level. Edwards's postseason play has raised eyebrows around the NBA this season as he has taken his game to another level.

Timberwolves stars Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle had a moment after teaming up to destroy the Warriors on Wednesday.

Minnesota Timberwolves star guard Anthony Edwards is on the verge of leading his team to the Western Conference Finals for the second straight year, and one of his teammates compared his demeanor to the legendary Kobe Bryant.

Julius Randle has only been a part of the Timberwolves for a year, but he has looked the part of being the team's veteran star alongside a young Ant Edwards.

Fast forward a few months, and Minnesota is headed back to the conference finals in no small part because of Randle, who continued the best stretch of basketball of his postseason -- and probably professional -- life with 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting on Wednesday as the Wolves eliminated the Warriors in five games.

And with that, the Warriors' season has ended. Simply put, Golden State could not recover after losing superstar Stephen Curry to a left hamstring strain in Game 1 of this series. Golden State finished Game 1 without Curry with a 99-88 win but proceeded to lose four straight by a combined 47 points.

Timberwolves' power forward has finally emerged as a playoff force to complement superstar Anthony Edwards. 'I had a great mentor in Kobe Bryant,' he says.

Aaron Gordon might be the gold standard of the "struggling leading man to role player" transformation right now. After never finding his place in Orlando, he has become Mr. Nugget in Denver by giving up the on-ball portion of his offensive game,