Knicks fans left little doubt about their feelings for Julius Randle. A familiar roar filled Madison Square Garden as Randle was introduced during Friday night’s pregame starting lineups, even though this time, the power forward was suiting up for the Minnesota Timberwolves. It was a unanimous — and loud — cheer for a player who once helped turn the Knicks around. “It was good,” Randle said of the ovation. “This is a place that always will be like a home to me, my family. So many great people and friends that I have here. I enjoy every second that I play here in Madison Square [Garden].” Friday marked Randle’s first game at the Garden since the Knicks traded him and guard Donte DiVincenzo to Minnesota in the October blockbuster that brought back superstar center Karl-Anthony Towns. Randle played a secondary role in the Timberwolves’ 116-99 win, taking a backseat in the spotlight as Anthony Edwards dazzled with 36 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists. The 30-year-old Randle finished with eight points on 2-of-6 shooting, seven rebounds and six assists. He was the only player from the trade to play Friday, as Towns (sprained thumb) and DiVincenzo (sprained toe) were both inactive. “I honestly felt, like, at home,” Randle said. “It’s a place that I’m familiar with, so it was good to be back.” The night got off to a nice start for Randle, who corralled an offensive rebound on Minnesota’s opening possession, then earned an assist on a Mike Conley 3-pointer. But Randle, who was defended by OG Anunoby, attempted only one shot in the first quarter — an air-balled 3-point attempt more than eight minutes into the game — and did not score until he made a pair of free throws with 7:21 left in the second period. His first basket came on a driving lay-up at the 2:35 mark of the third quarter. He added a dunk with 1:13 left in the fourth quarter to punctuate the Wolves’ win. Five of Randle’s six assists were on 3-pointers. The Timberwolves finished 22-40 (55.0%) from 3-point range as the Knicks’ perimeter defense faltered again. “He’s been passing the ball tremendously well,” Edwards said of Randle. Randle joined the Knicks in 2019, signing a three-year, $63 million contract during the same summer Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving spurned them for the Nets. At the time, the Knicks had endured six consecutive losing seasons, including a 17-win campaign in 2018-19 that matched the worst record in franchise history. “When I came here, it wasn’t necessarily great,” Randle said. “To build year after year to what it is now, it was good.” Indeed, Randle helped the Knicks return to relevancy. He averaged 22.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game and earned three All-Star selections in his five seasons with New York. “It was amazing,” Randle said. “Knicks fans are amazing. The energy that they bring and the passion that they bring every single game, the playoffs, everything, it’s unmatched. I had a tremendous time here.” Still, Randle’s tenure proved polarizing. His ball dominance frustrated at times, and in 2022, he flashed a thumbs-down gesture to Knicks fans who had been booing at the Garden. His statistics dipped during his two postseasons with the Knicks, and he did not play during their run to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals last year due to a season-ending shoulder injury. A contract extension never came this summer, and with the Knicks in need of a center, they swung the trade for Towns, a four-time All-Star, less than three weeks before the start of the regular season. “He had a great run and helped lift the team up,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said Friday of Randle. “He not only excelled individually, but the team excelled while he was here. He did a terrific job for us.” The deal has been a success for the Knicks (27-16), even if their lack of post-trade depth has loomed large during their current 3-6 skid. Towns is averaging 25.4 points and 13.9 rebounds per game, thriving as a pick-and-roll partner for Jalen Brunson while delivering career-best shooting numbers. The new-look Wolves, meanwhile, are off to a 22-19 start, with their work-in-progress chemistry contributing to their inconsistency. Randle entered Friday averaging 19.5 points (on 47.8% shooting), 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. “I’ve got nothing but a lot of admiration for Julius for what we’ve asked him to do,” Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch said. “We’ve asked him to score. We’ve asked him to play-make. We’ve asked him to guard in a lot of different situations. His biggest contribution for us has been doing all of that.” Minnesota visited the Garden for a preseason game shortly after the trade, but Randle did not play. He and DiVincenzo received a tribute video that night, but they did not get another one Friday. Friday’s game was a far cry from the first regular-season meeting between the Knicks and Timberwolves. Last month in Minnesota, Randle led the Wolves with 24 points — including 15 in the first quarter — in a 133-107 loss. After that game, Randle beelined to the Timberwolves’ locker room, then left the Target Center without addressing the media. Following Friday’s win, Randle shared a few quick hugs with the Knicks — then admitted at his locker that he felt a little strange going to the Garden’s visiting showers instead of the home ones. “I just wanted to get this win because they got us pretty bad last time in Minnesota,” Randle said. “I felt it was right that we came back here and got a win.”