The New York Knicks have faced the toughest schedule in the NBA in the early going. It continued on Wednesday night when they traveled to take on the Atlanta Hawks in the second game of a five-game road trip.
New York jumped out to an early 13-point lead, but they were unable to sustain that. The Hawks fought back after a difficult first quarter, going ahead by as many as seven points in the fourth quarter.
With 5:20 remaining in the game, Saddiq Bey put the Hawks on top by that margin with a putback dunk. The Knicks didn’t panic, as they composed themselves with a great timeout by head coach Tom Thibodeau.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Julius Randle & New York Knicks Updates
New York would score on every possession from that point on until Scott Foster called a quick five-second violation on an in-bounds play with 4.1 seconds remaining in the game. That was 10 consecutive possessions that the Knicks finished with a basket, putting the Hawks away fro good with a 116-114 victory.
A driving force in that win was the performance of Julius Randle, who looks to be rounding into shape. A disastrous start to the season shooting the ball compressed his numbers, but they are starting to return to the norm we have become accustomed to seeing. A dominant performance against an undersized Hawks team certainly helps.
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.
He made 12-of-24 from the field, 3-of-5 from 3-point range and both of his free throw attempts. Along with the impressive scoring output, Randle grabbed 10 rebounds and handed out eight assists with one steal. However, arguably the most important statistic for the Knicks power forward? Only one turnover.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Julius Randle & New York Knicks Updates
With that performance, Randle made some franchise history. He is the first player on the Knicks to have 29+ points, 10+ rebounds and 8+ assists with fewer than two turnovers in a single game, per Knicks Muse on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Randle looks to be shaking the rust from the ankle procedure he underwent in the offseason that contributed to his slow start. This is more like the All-Star and All-NBA performer the Knicks had leading them in the 2022-23 season.
As he continues rounding into form, New York is going to be an even more formidable team. They have a legitimate Big 3 developing with Randle, Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett all finding their stride.
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