Despite Game 2 win, Knicks need more from Most Improved Player Julius Randle to succeed
Julius Randle #30 of the Knicks warms up before the game against the Atlanta Hawks during Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals at Madison Square Garden on May 26, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Elsa
Yes, it was happening once again.
The best player on the Knicks was having one of his worst games. Julius Randle, who had carried the Knicks through 72 games and into the playoffs, once again couldn’t get his game going early against a tough Atlanta Hawks double team.
The Knicks needed a hero, any hero, to step up and save their postseason. It was 32-year-old Derrick Rose, who answered the call with the Knicks trailing by 13 at the start of the third quarter. Rose scored a team-high 26 points and played the entire third quarter to lead the Knicks to a 101-92 win over the Hawks in Game 2 of their playoff series.
Rose’s energy seemed to spur on all his teammates, including Randle who began making things happen offensively. From the third quarter on, the Knicks seemed to get back to the aggressiveness they had shown all season.
"The intensity went to another level," Randle said.
The intensity is going to have to stay at another level if the Knicks have any hope of advancing out of this first-round series. It’s one thing to get your act together at home with an almost full house spurring you on, and it’s quite another thing to try to do it in a hostile environment.
The Knicks head to Atlanta with the series at 1-1. They lost homecourt advantage when Trae Young hit a floater at the buzzer in Game 1.
Randle, who averaged 37.3 points in three regular-season games against the Hawks, scored just 15 in each of the playoff games. In Game 1, he shot 6 for 23. In Game 2, he was 5 for 16 overall and 0 for 6 in the first half.
It’s hard to imagine the Knicks wining again with Randle contributing this little on offense. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau thinks he is getting better as he gets used to playing in the postseason for the first time.
"There’s a great will and determination to him," Thibodeau said. "obviously, we’re disappointed with the way he played in the first half. Sometimes it’s just a couple hustle plays. Julius is not going to go away. He's got great will and determination and he’s a great fighter."
It’s hard to think of a worse first half than Randle and the Knicks had Wednesday night, Randle scoring just two points.
Randle had faced double teams before this season, but was able to pass his way out of them. This time, when he tried to do the same thing, his teammates weren’t able to make the Hawks pay. The Knicks starters scored just 14 points in the first half while the team has a whole made just 29.2% of their shots.
Coming on the heels of a shockingly poor showing by Randle in Game 1, opening Game 2 with this kind of half was hard to fathom.
Randle carried the Knicks on his back this year. His eye-popping improvement over last year is the reason Knicks fans are watching their team in the playoffs instead of talking about the lottery and mentally sifting through college players looking for the team’s next savior.
Nobody wins the Most Improved Player seven years into their career, like Randle did. At that point, any significant professional growth is supposed to have already happened. At that point, you are what you are.
Yet, Randle believed he could be something bigger. It’s the reason he came to the Knicks in the first place, when other players rightfully didn’t want to deal with the non-stop drama that has been the hallmark of the franchise for the past 20 years.
No one expected the Knicks to get this far or Randle to have this kind of year. It would be a shame if they can’t stretch it out a little while longer.
Barbara Barker is an award-winning columnist and features writer in the sports department at Newsday. She has covered sports in New York for more than 20 years.
