Julius Randle Jokes He'll Need to Ask God for 'A Few Favors' to Defend Nikola Jokic in NBA Playoffs

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle offered a humorous response when discussing his upcoming task of guarding Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokić in the first round of the 2026 playoffs.

"Probably gotta call God and talk to him for a little bit and ask him for a few favors," Randle joked on Wednesday, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. "It's going to be a tough matchup. He's an incredible player. ... It's going to be a battle, but we're prepared. We're ready for it."

Randle spent just over 22 minutes guarding Jokić during the regular season, the second-most time any player spent defending the three-time MVP (via NBA.com).

Jokić fared well in the individual matchup, scoring 43 points and dishing out 16 assists compared to eight turnovers. He also shot 16-of-24 from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc when defended by Randle.

It's worth noting that few players were able to slow down Jokić during the regular season, though.

He recorded 27.7 points per game, while his averages of 12.9 rebounds and 10.7 assists per game both led the league. Jokić connected on 56.9 percent of his field goals and 38.0 percent of his triples.

Still, the Timberwolves have advanced to the Western Conference Finals in each of the past two seasons and took down the Nuggets during their 2024 run.

Randle is also coming off a 2025-26 regular season in which he averaged 21.1 points, 6.7 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.1 steals per game on 48.1/31.5/80.2 shooting splits.

Game 1 between the Nuggets and Timberwolves is on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET.