Anthony Edwards struggled to find any sort of rhythm in Game 5 of Minnesota’s first-round series victory against the Lakers on Wednesday. The guard went 5 for 19 from the field, lowlighted by an 0-for-11 performance from beyond the arc.

Edwards admitted postgame he would have continued to try to force his offense to find any semblance of success down the stretch of the Timberwolves’ victory had it not been for Julius Randle.

Randle was one of the few Wolves players seeing his shots fall as he took advantage of good matchups to get to his spots and score. The confident forward called for the ball down the stretch with the idea that we would close out the contest and, thus, the series.

Edwards ceded some of the creation duties to Randle, who had 11 points in the fourth to key Minnesota’s 103-96 victory and put the Wolves into the Western Conference semifinals.

“We a team,” Edwards said. “Just give him the ball, let him go to work and realize he got the matchup that we looking for.”

That’s the general idea of offensive basketball, create an advantage and exploit it to your benefit. But the approach requires buy-in from all involved, starting with your best player. Edwards is Minnesota’s best player.

And while Minnesota benefits from the guard being a win-first guy, the 23-year-old superstar still must be convinced that a teammate will produce before Edwards gives way. Once that trust is in place, that guard will look for you, even in the most critical spots.

The primary case of that is Jaden McDaniels, who Edwards seems to out to every time the wing is open, even when McDaniels is in the midst of a harsh shooting slump. Because Edwards believes in McDaniels.

It’s now abundantly clear that he also believes in Randle. And everyone else likely does now, too. While Randle previously had playoff questions after a few rough postseason campaigns in New York, he answered the bell against the Lakers.

Randle averaged 22.6 points per game in the series, shooting 48% from the field and 39% from distance. He tallied nearly three assists per each turnover from Games 2-5 while competing at a high level on the defensive end.

“Julius Randle was absolutely huge in this series, and another guy who’s had a lot of unfair criticism in his career,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said. “He was outstanding on both ends of the floor. We don’t win this series without him. Julius was consistently great every night, just doing a lot of little things, timely things.”

Perhaps his time in New York proved that Randle may not be best suited as a No. 1 scorer in a playoff series. Very few are. But recent evidence suggests he slots in quite well as a No. 2. That’s not always the easiest role to step into. Partially because it means fewer shots on a nightly basis in what’s effectively a contract year for Randle, who has a $30 million player option for next season that he can either accept and play on, or decline to enter free agency.

But aside from that, the No. 2 spot on a team’s scoring ladder also creates a delicate dance, as you have to learn when you need to be aggressive for your team versus doing it at all times.

Finch noted Minnesota simply had to figure out how to best deploy Randle. He’s noted at various times that the Timberwolves erred in that early in the season. But they started to find their way midway through the season, just prior to Randle getting hurt. Finch points to Randle’s return to Madison Square Garden as a key turning point.

A month prior, Randle took eight first-quarter shots at Target Center against the Knicks. Minnesota’s offense bogged down and the Wolves were destroyed by New York. This time around, in an emotional return to New York City, Randle attempted just six shots on the night as the Wolves won convincingly.

“The offense hummed around him and through him,” Finch said. “He played defense. That had to be an incredibly emotional game, like the maturity to do that, and we were just starting to find ourselves at that point, like we weren’t an established product at that point in time. So, he could have easily gone in there and made it a revenge game, but he didn’t, and we won that game, which was a huge win for us at the time. … It kind of all snowballed from there.”

Finch said Randle realizes the talent around him in Minnesota. The Wolves sport one of the best eight-man rotations in the NBA, rivaling the likes of Boston and Oklahoma City.

“He wants those guys to succeed, as well,” Finch said. “He knows he needs to help create opportunities for them.”

Which is exactly what he has done over the past two-plus months, and Minnesota is in a great spot because of it.

“Everyone in this locker room knows who he is and what he does for us,” said Donte DiVincenzo, who’s in his second season playing with Randle. “He comes in the second half (Wednesday) and he just dominates the game on the offensive glass, getting downhill, making plays for everybody else. He would’ve had a double-double or triple-double if we made shots. His playmaking ability is very, very special for us and we’re going to ride Julius throughout the rest of the playoffs.”

Certainly, they’ll ride their Batman — Anthony Edwards — as well. But there will be nights when even Edwards can’t get it going, and the open shots of others may not be falling. At which point, as was the case in Game 5 against Los Angeles, it’s Robin to the rescue.

“When you play next to (Edwards), it made the game a lot easier,” Randle said. “Because they throw two or three people at him, so you’ve just got to be willing to move and be in the right spaces on the floor. You’ve got to be able to take advantage of that. (There’s) not a person in the world that can guard him one on one. So, teams are throwing everything at him.

“I always tell him, ‘Go be great. But if you need me, I’m right there for us.’”