Shorthanded Knicks fall to Spurs despite Julius Randle's 41 points
Knicks' Julius Randle (30) goes to the basket against San Antonio Spurs' Zach Collins during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2022, in San Antonio. Credit: Darren Abate
SAN ANTONIO — In a time of load management and cautious rest, the Knicks were the outlier, putting their three top players — Jalen Brunson, RJ Barrett and Julius Randle — on the floor every night for the first 34 games.
And then there was one — which apparently is not enough.
With Brunson and Barrett unavailable Thursday night, Randle had 41 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists, but it was not nearly enough.
This time it didn’t take a historic collapse or a ground-breaking triple-double to put the Knicks away, just a methodical set of disappointments.
The result was a 122-115 loss to a Spurs squad also playing shorthanded without second-leading scorer Devin Vassell and carrying the second-worst record in the Western Conference into the game (they’re now 12-23).
“They didn’t feel us from the start and then they had confidence,” Randle said. “It’s tough to shut a team down, especially on their home court, like that. We’ve got to get back to our defensive ways.”
Immanuel Quickley stepped up with a career-high 36 points along with seven rebounds and seven assists, and even Evan Fournier — liberated from the bench for the first time since Nov. 13 — had 11 points in 16:58. But no one else was in double figures.
If there is a bright spot in the Knicks’ losing streak — which has grown to five games and dropped them back to 18-18 after their eight-game winning streak — it’s that the worst team in the Western Conference, the Rockets, are the final stop on this three-game Texas trip.
Brunson missed his second straight game with a sore right hip, an injury suffered on Christmas Day. Barrett, who played just 1:36 Tuesday night in Dallas before suffering a right index finger laceration, missed a game for the first time this season on Thursday and likely is sidelined for a week.
While Tom Thibodeau preaches a next-man-up philosophy — like most coaches — the Knicks have relied heavily on Brunson’s on-court leadership as well as his 20.2 points and 6.6 assists per game. Before Tuesday, Barrett was averaging 20.3 points, and he had a 44-point game against the Bulls last week. He has been the team’s leader in minutes played, serving as a two-way threat, able to defend against a vast array of scorers and contribute offensively.
After recording a career-high 15 assists Tuesday, Quickley started for a second straight game Thursday and hit five three-pointers en route to his career-high scoring night, but there was little help from anyone else. Quentin Grimes, after a career-high 33 points Tuesday, shot 1-for-10 from the floor and had nine points. Miles McBride, getting his first start of the season, had nine points and two assists.
Trailing by as many as 17 — including a 16-point deficit early in the fourth quarter — the Knicks closed the gap to 101-92 on Randle’s three-pointer with 8:07 remaining. After an exchange of buckets, the Knicks got a stop, but Fournier’s effort to save the ball inbounds was swiped by Romeo Langford, who put in an easy layup. After Randle and Quickley misfired from three-point range, Keldon Johnson connected from long range for a 108-94 Spurs lead with 6:33 left. Johnson, who was questionable until shortly before game time, scored 30 points.
The Knicks had one last run, cutting it to eight on McBride’s three-point field goal, but Johnson answered again and quickly put the Knicks down 10 with just under three minutes left.
While Thibodeau and Randle may have spoken of playing his usual game, it was clear that he was carrying a larger load from the start. After Quickley started the game 4-for-4 from the field and put up 10 of the Knicks’ first 12 points, Randle scored 11 consecutive points. And as the team fell behind, he attacked more.
“Yeah, I turned my aggressiveness up, obviously,’’ said Randle, who attempted 27 shots, 13 from three-point range. “Whatever it takes, we’ve got to find a way to get one in the win column.”
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.
