Julius Randle leads Knicks' comeback over Nuggets to complete unlikely back-to-back sweep
Knicks forward Julius Randle, left, looks to pass the ball as Denver Nuggets forward Bruce Brown defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 16, 2022, in Denver. Credit: AP/David Zalubowski
DENVER — Julius Randle sat at his locker, a cup of tea in his hand and trying to contain a hacking cough — a sound that was similar to what could be heard in all corners of the Knicks' locker room at Ball Arena.
Fighting illness and on the second night of a back-to-back set as daunting as any stops in the NBA, he hardly looked the part, but moments earlier he was diving across the floor, snaring a loose ball and feeding ahead to Jalen Brunson for an unlikely dunk — a burst of energy carrying the Knicks to a 106-103 win over the Nuggets, giving them two straight unlikely fourth-quarter comeback wins.
“We all got it,” Randle said of the illness spreading through the locker room on this trip. Asked how he managed to play with the fire he did when feeling under the weather, he added, ”It’s us sticking together, staying together and believing. I’m happy we got a win. Always going to make you feel better. I definitely can’t wait to get in bed.”
Randle had just played his most aggressive and dominant game of the season and the Knicks needed every bit of it. He finished with 34 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and four steals. Three of the steals came in the fourth quarter when the Knicks' defense clamped down on the shorthanded Nuggets, who were missing two-time MVP Nikola Jokic as well as Aaron Gordon, and overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit.
The Knicks went into Ball Arena, where they hadn’t won since 2006, on the back end of a nightmarish back-to-back set, the sort of schedule that ruins teams. And if they were running on fumes — RJ Barrett slogged through a 4-for-18 night, missing all nine of his three-point attempts — they needed to play to the final buzzer.
The Knicks trailed by 10 before a Randle follow with 7:20 remaining and they methodically forged their way back into the game. A Randle dunk with 3:20 left cut the gap to three and he followed that with a layup to close within 98-97. Brunson put the Knicks in front with a pair of free throws and then Randle stole the ball, diving to beat the Nuggets' Kentavious Caldwell-Pope to the ball, and fed Brunson from on the floor for a Brunson dunk.
Randle might have thought he was groggy when he heard that Brunson had dunked it.
“He said he dunked,” Randle said. “I did not see it. Did he really? Wow. I’ve got to look at the tape, man. I don’t believe it. I didn’t know what he was talking about. He was like, ‘I had to dunk that for you when you dove like that.’ I’m like, bro, you did not dunk. You laid that up. Yeah, he dunked, man. I have to buy him a drink or something.”
Brunson said, “It felt good. After dunking I kind of got a little tired but I mean, when Ju’s doing that that’s big-time, especially from him. We all feed off of that. That was a big play. It helped us down the stretch, helped us with our confidence, helped us a lot.”
“Ju coming in, getting on the floor, changed the game,” Cam Reddish added. “The energy and the effort meant a lot. I think we have that will to win. We want to win. Everybody locked in, communicating. That's what it is.”
But the Nuggets wouldn't go away either with Bones Hyland converting a three-point play and then driving through traffic for a game-tying layup with 1:05 to play. Brunson made two free throws with 10.5 seconds left for a three-point lead. The Knicks needed one more stop and got it as Immanuel Quickley locked up Jamal Murray, forcing him to misfire on a desperation three at the buzzer.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
