The NBA’s hardest schedule has been faced by the New York Knicks thus far. They went on the road to play the second game of a five-game road trip against the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night.
Although they jumped out to an early 13-point lead, New York was unable to hold that lead. After a challenging first quarter, the Hawks rallied, leading by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter.
With a putback dunk with 5:20 left in the game, Saddiq Bey gave the Hawks the lead by that amount. The Knicks maintained their composure thanks to a masterful timeout called by head coach Tom Thibodeau.
From then on, New York would score on each possession until, with 4.1 seconds left in the game, Scott Foster called a quick five-second violation on an in-bounds play. The Knicks defeated the Hawks 116-114, capping ten straight possessions in which they finished with a basket.
The performance of Julius Randle, who appears to be getting into shape, was a major factor in that victory. His numbers were distorted by a terrible shooting start to the season, but they are now beginning to resemble the average that we have grown accustomed to. A strong showing against a smaller Hawks team is undoubtedly beneficial.
Randle scored a team-high 29 points in the game, getting the team off to a hot start by scoring the team’s first seven points of the game. He finished the first quarter with 14, looking more like the Randle from last season.
In terms of field goals made, he was 12-of-24, 3-of-5 from 3-point range, and made both of his free throw attempts. In addition to his outstanding scoring performance, Randle pulled down ten rebounds, dished out eight assists, and committed one steal. But perhaps the most significant figure for the Knicks power forward? just one changeover.
Randle left some franchise history on the field with his performance. According to Knicks Muse on X, formerly known as Twitter, he is the first player on the team to have 29+ points, 10+ rebounds, and 8+ assists with fewer than two turnovers in a single game.
Randle appears to be recovering from the offseason ankle surgery that slowed him down, which may have contributed to his slow start. This more closely resembles the All-Star and All-NBA player that led the Knicks in the 2022–2023 campaign.
New York is going to be an even more dangerous team as he continues to develop. Now that Randle, Jalen Brunson, and RJ Barrett are all hitting their stride, they have a real Big 3 emerging.