Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson, Knicks hold off Wizards

WASHINGTON — On Friday morning, Julius Randle posted a TikTok video of a discussion with his 6-year-old son, Kyden, about the Knicks’ season, asking for a grade. The younger Randle bluntly handed in a C for the Knicks, pointing to passing as a “needs improvement” on the report card.

Fair enough. But the elder Randle — who responded, “Tough critic” — seemed intent on showing that at least the effort was worthy of a better grade Friday.

In the third quarter, with the Knicks and Wizards entrenched in a scrum that hardly was highlight-worthy, Randle drove to the rim and met Washington center Daniel Gafford, forcefully throwing down a lefthanded dunk that put Gafford on his back and brought the decidedly pro-Knicks crowd — and the Knicks’ bench — to its feet.

The bump in intensity was a difference on this night. The Knicks weren’t going to shoot the lights out, but what they could do was muscle their way to the rim and punish the Wizards in the paint. Randle started it in the third quarter and the Knicks scored 14 straight points in the fourth period to turn the game into a 112-108 win.

“I mean, we can win a lot of games like that,” Randle said. “Locking in defensively, getting stops to create separation. Whatever it is the team needs from me to do as far as making plays, it doesn’t always have to be scoring. It can be a block, it can be a steal or just being in the right place defensively. We’re all doing the little things that add up to wins.”

It’s added up to 14 wins in the last 20 games and nine in their last 11 on the road.

Jalen Brunson had 34 points, eight assists and eight rebounds and Randle had 23 points and 16 rebounds. But it was more than just the numbers that helped them survive.

On three consecutive possessions, the Knicks (24-19) took the ball to the rim, scored and drew a foul, capped by a sequence that even Kyden Randle couldn’t criticize. RJ Barrett hit a cutting Immanuel Quickley with a bounce pass and Quickley found Isaiah Hartenstein cutting open on the baseline for a dunk.

“I think he would like that one,” Randle said, laughing. “I’ve got to ask him tonight.”

“Man, that was a great play,” Barrett said. “And we need to be able to make more plays like that. Basketball’s really fun when you can play that way.”

An 80-79 lead early in the fourth quarter quickly blew up into a 94-79 advantage with 8:30 remaining. When the Knicks needed it with the lead fading, Randle drove and banked in a layup to up the lead to eight with 1:07 left.

The Wizards pulled within three on a drive by Kyle Kuzma (40 points, seven assists, seven rebounds) with 27.2 seconds to play. Randle went to the line with 18.2 seconds left and missed his first free throw before connecting on the second for a 108-104 lead.

Kuzma sank two free throws with 16.6 seconds left, but Brunson hit four straight free throws to close it out.

“There were a couple points in the game where it was six, eight, they had the lead and [Brunson] .  .  . brought the game back where he didn’t let it get away,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I always say the No. 1 job of the point guard is control and manage the game. What is going on in the game? Get us organized. And he’s great at it. He has a lot of poise.”

“I feel like we’ve played better as of late, but we still have some work to do,” Brunson said. “We have to close out games better and we have to find ways to make life easier for us, for each other.”

Former Knick Kristaps Porzingis, who four years ago this month was traded to Dallas, missed his first five shots Friday and was quiet before hitting three three-pointers in the fourth quarter to finish with 21 points.

“We picked it up a little bit, we got stops, got in transition, got a couple of and-1’s,’’ Brunson said, “and we just found a way.”

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.