Never leave your fate to the referee

The Suns' Okogie made a fatal mistake, one that was enough to waste the team's entire game effort. At key moments in the game, he did not choose to trust his defensive prowess and left his fate to the referee.

In the final round of the game between the Suns and the Timberwolves, the two sides tied at 117, and the Timberwolves' sideline ball was sent to Randle, who played better throughout the game. Randle had little time left after receiving the ball and had to deal with it himself.

Randle couldn't get away from Okogie if he wanted to move with his feet, and he knew that, so after two dribbles, Randle was ready to step back and shoot, while pushing Okogie with his left arm to buy space for himself.

Randle did have a process from curved arm to straight arm and was fully whistled for an offensive foul, and Okogie instantly realized this and made his choice. He fell to the ground, amplifying Randall's movements, expecting to hear a whistle.

That whistle didn't come in the end, and instead it was the final whistle and the wild celebration of the Timberwolves players. Randle threw in a completely open three-point shot, and I don't know if it was the first one-time smash in Randle's career, but it was certainly the easiest one.

Maybe tomorrow's referee report will come out, and Randle's stunner will be recognized as an offensive foul first, but the result of the game can never be changed. Okogie is more than capable of causing maximum disruption to Randle, but the moment he hands his fate over to the referee, the storyscript goes in the worst direction.

Referees have considerable autonomy in the NBA, big enough to easily change the outcome of a game. But not all referees like to be the protagonist in the final moments, and not all teams are as unlucky as the Bucks on these two days.

The Suns have actually played well, although they have only won the last five games against the Jazz following Durant's injury. But today Booker completely regained his form, scoring 27 points in the half, the offensive state was completely open, and the defense was also sparing no effort.

The Suns have lost so many games lately that Booker needs a tough fight to break the doubt. Today's 29-of-15 Booker wheel smoked and also played red, but unfortunately the final critical moment was really almost lucky.

Before Durant's injury, the Suns were the league's No. 1 team in key shots, and Durant showed his scythe several times to kill opponents. But today, before Randle's strike, the Suns had three chances to overtake their opponents in a single round, and all of them were missed, with Booker dropping an open three-pointer and a mid-range shot.

Instead of complaining about why the referee didn't blow the whistle in the final moments, reflect on why he missed three chances to finish the match in the last 34.5 seconds. When the opportunity is in front of you, and you let it slip away three times, the basketball gods will punish you.

The Timberwolves are also having a hard time, after they lost back-to-back to the Trail Blazers and left their record behind. Randle has entered the stage of shooting rate correction after his highlight-reel performance at the beginning of the season, and the efficiency of the last few games has not been very good.

Fortunately, today, Randall's touch has returned. He finished with 35 points, four rebounds and seven assists on 11-of-20 shooting, 5-of-11 three-pointers and 8-of-9 free throws. In the last attack, Coach Finch did not choose to hand the ball to Huazi but to Randle, proving the team's trust in him.

I've always joked that the Most Improved Player Award could be renamed the Randle Award, because during the Knicks he was always jumping back and forth between progress and regression. After arriving at the Timberwolves this season, Randle played comfortably as the second point of possession. It doesn't need to be how good he is at doing the dirty work, and he doesn't need him to completely replace Downs.

The way he left the Knicks wasn't decent, but luckily his next stop, Minnesota, quickly embraced him. Human luck won't always be good, but it can't always be bad.