BBNBA: Julius Randle, Knicks cruise as uncertainty looms
Having NBA games on during the NFL playoffs seems borderline criminal. Alas though, we had Julius Randle and a few other ‘Cats help pick up wins for their teams. Let’s jump in.
Julius Randle quiets criticism for a night
There’s been a lot going on in New York this season. They beat the Clippers 110-102 on Sunday and now sit at 23-24 on the year. In any other season, that would be considered a huge step in the right direction and a reason for optimism.
After the whole “We Here” fiasco from last year, this now makes Julius Randle and the New York Knicks a piece of comedy that everyone can laugh at again. Julius has fallen off a cliff statistically from his All-NBA season last year. He’s shooting 41% overall, 31% from deep and looks like he’s actively trying to avoid playing defense at times. There are also some obvious signs that Julius is struggling to be the number one option on a team. R.J. Barrett has taken over the reins to New York and it seems like it has impacted Julius’ play overall.
Yesterday’s win over Los Angeles was desperately needed for Randle and the Knicks. In 40 minutes, he had 24 points, nine rebounds and five assists on 8-15 shooting from the floor. He did have seven turnovers in the performance but that isn’t unheard of from him. It’ll be interesting to see what New York does at the trade deadline, but at least for one night, Julius was playing good ball again.
This matchup might also contain the most former Wildcats than anywhere else. Immanuel Quickley and Nerlens Noel each dropped in eight points for the Knicks. B.J. Boston put up 13 points on nine shots and Eric Bledsoe dished out six assists in 15 minutes.
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Karl-Anthony Towns helps team effort in win over Nets
Your currently seventh-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves got back to .500 yesterday with a 135-125 win over a Kevin Durant-less Brooklyn Nets team. Minnesota was carried by their top three as each of them had at least 23 points in the contest.
Towns dropped in 23 points on a relatively pedestrian shooting night for the big man. Karl went 7-18 from the field with a 2-7 line from deep. He did however hit seven of nine free throws.
D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards had more points than KAT yesterday, but Towns might’ve been the reason the Wolves were able to close it out. He scored 15 of his 23 on the night in the fourth quarter–that’s clutch.
Statistics
| Player | Result | Points | FG (3PA) | Rebounds | Assists | Steals | Blocks | Turnovers | Minutes | +/- |
| Julius Randle (NYK) | 110-102 W vs. LAC | 24 | 8-15 (3-7) | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 40 | 4 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN) | 136-125 W vs. BKN | 23 | 7-18 (2-7) | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 32 | 2 |
| Trey Lyles (DET) | 117-111 L @ DEN | 18 | 6-11 (0-3) | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 4 |
| Tyrese Maxey (PHI) | 115-109 W @ SAS | 18 | 6-14 (1-2) | 4 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 42 | 7 |
| Keldon Johnson (SAS) | 115-109 L vs. PHI | 17 | 5-7 (2-3) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | -5 |
| Bam Adebayo (MIA) | 113-107 W vs. LAL | 14 | 6-10 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 33 | 8 |
| B.J. Boston (LAC) | 110-102 L @ NYK | 13 | 4-9 (2-6) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| P.J. Washington (CHA) | 113-91 L vs. ATL | 12 | 4-7 (2-4) | 7 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 31 | -5 |
| Hamidou Diallo (DET) | 111-117 L @ DEN | 9 | 3-7 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | -10 |
| Jarred Vanderbilt (MIN) | 136-125 W vs. BKN | 9 | 3-3 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 32 | 12 |
| Nerlens Noel (NYK) | 110-102 W vs. LAC | 8 | 4-5 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 2 |
| Immanuel Quickley (NYK) | 110-102 W vs. LAC | 8 | 3-8 (2-3) | 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 7 |
| Malik Monk (LAL) | 113-107 L @ MIA | 7 | 3-6 (1-4) | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 24 | -8 |
| Kevin Knox (ATL) | 113-91 W @ CHA | 4 | 2-6 (0-4) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 3 |
| Eric Bledsoe (LAC) | 110-102 L @ NYK | 2 | 0-2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 15 | -6 |
| DeMarcus Cousins (DEN) | 117-111 W vs. DET | 2 | 1-7 (0-3) | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 12 | -4 |
| Nick Richards (CHA) | 113-91 L vs. ATL | 0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | -6 |
| Enes Freedom (BOS) | 116-87 W @ WAS | 0 | 0-0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | -1 |
| Tyler Herro (MIA) | 113-107 W vs. LAL | DNP – Health Protocol | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Anthony Davis (LAL) | 113-107 L @ MIA | DNP – Knee | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Today in the NBA
7:00 p.m. Knicks (Randle, Quickley, Noel) @ Cavaliers (Rondo)
8:00 p.m. Bulls @ Thunder (Gilgeous-Alexander)
8:00 p.m. Pacers (Jackson) @ Pelicans
9:00 p.m. (NBA TV) Jazz @ Suns (Booker)
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