Souhan: Timberwolves’ success is reminder that the former Knicks were taking notes

The statistic is revealing, and stunning.

Since Julius Randle returned from injury on March 2, the Timberwolves are 25-6, including the playoffs.

What’s easy to forget is that Randle had a friend and ally sitting next to him as he recovered and recalibrated.

He and his fellow former Knick, Donte DiVincenzo, spent most of February together on the injured list. They took that time to analyze the way the Wolves who had reached the previous Western Conference finals played together.

Randle stopped dribbling until the shot clock was exhausted. DiVincenzo didn’t change his game in such an obvious way, but he recognized how and when to best feed the ball to certain teammates.

Wednesday night, DiVincenzo passed the ball and passed his latest test, turning in one of his best and most important performances as a Timberwolf during a series-closing, 121-110 victory over Golden State in Game 5 of the conference semifinals.

DiVincenzo had six assists, his largest total in a playoff game this spring. His line: 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting, two rebounds, six assists and four steals in 26 minutes. His first four assists, and five of the six, went to Wolves center Rudy Gobert.

“We’ve developed chemistry, and reads, where I know where he’s going to be,” DiVincenzo said. ”He knows what I like to do. It’s been a year-long process of trying to feel each other out, and tonight we connected.“

DiVincenzo’s quick thinking and quicker passing helped Gobert score 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting (and dunking), and the Wolves are at their best when Gobert’s scoring energizes him.

“We were both out for a little while,” DiVincenzo said of himself and Randle. “Just seeing the game from being on the sideline is different from seeing the game when you’re going through it. I think he [Randle] is just reading off what the team needs. He has a good feel for when the team needs him to be aggressive, when the team needs him to make plays.

“He’s amazing at it, and it allows guys to really feel confident playing with him.”

DiVincenzo wasn’t inspiring such confidence early in this series. He was shooting 38 percent from the field in this postseason. He had 29 assists and 18 turnovers.

What did DiVincenzo learn while Randle was dissecting the Wolves offense from the sideline?

“The exact same things,” DiVincenzo said. “We were watching the team from last year, when me and Julius were not here. So we could see what they do, see how they jell and mesh, and then us coming back, we could say, ‘OK, this is what needs to be done for us to go to a new level.’ ”

Which brings the Wolves to the same heightened level as last year. They will play in the conference finals in consecutive seasons for the first time in franchise history, thanks in large part to the players they acquired in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.

DiVincenzo is currently appearing in a national commercial with three former Villanova teammates — the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. He said the shoot took about four hours because his old teammates couldn’t “be serious” enough to keep straight faces as DiVincenzo looked lonely and sad.

DiVincenzo could be sharing the world’s greatest sound stage with his old buddies soon, if the Wolves face the Knicks in the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden.

Would he be texting Brunson late Wednesday night? “He better not text me tonight,” DiVincenzo said with a smile.

If DiVincenzo was in search of relevant conversation, he could reprise those February discussions with Randle, the ones that may have turned the Wolves’ season around.