After sitting out the Knicks‘ final five regular season contests with a left ankle sprain, All-Star power forward Julius Randle has seemed downright giddy in discussing New York’s ongoing playoff series with the Cavaliers, writes Zach Braziller of The New York Post.
“I’m just having fun, man, this is a lot of fun,” Randle said earlier this week. “This is what you work so hard for. For me it goes back to our team, all the work that we’ve put in, in the summer, individuals. That’s what this is about. So I’m excited.”
Randle enjoyed a fairly modest Game 3 against Cleveland, scoring 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting from the floor, pulling down eight rebounds, and dishing out three assists. He has not quite been up to his regular All-Star production while playing through the injury. For the series thus far, he’s averaging 16.5 PPG on 31.4% shooting, plus 8.0 RPG, 2.0 APG and 1.0 SPG.
New York leads Cleveland 2-1 thus far in the best-of-seven series and will hope to improve that advantage when the action resumes tomorrow at Madison Square Garden.
There’s more out of New York:
- The relationship between star Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson‘s father Rick Brunson, now an assistant coach on the team, and head coach Tom Thibodeau played a big role in selling Brunson on New York in free agency, as Nick Friedell of ESPN details. Thibodeau was an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy when Rick joined the team as a player in 1998. They developed a friendship, and Thibodeau brought the elder Brunson aboard his bench when he booked his first head coaching gig with the Bulls in 2010. “I think being around him for a long time, knowing the trust that my dad has in him, I’ve been around it,” Jalen told Friedell. “I’ve been around his philosophies for a long time, so I guess I’m used to it. I’ve seen it from afar — he’s going to push me no matter if I have 48 [points] or four. “
- Though backup New York guard Immanuel Quickley was the runner-up behind Celtics reserve Malcolm Brogdon for this year’s Sixth Man of the Year award, Quickley isn’t dwelling on missing out on that award, writes Petter Botte of The New York Post. “There’s been a lot of, there’s been more players that have started a lot more games than me,” Quickley said. “So it’s something that I wanted to win, but at the end of the day, it’s not the end of the world. Still got a long career hopefully, God willing, ahead of me.”
- Second-year Knicks shooting guard Quentin Grimes left the first half of last night’s 99-79 New York win with what the team described as a shoulder contusion and did not return in the second, Botte writes in a separate piece. Across the Knicks’ first three games of the series, Grimes has been erratic on offense, scoring just 11 points on 2-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Grimes’ erratic? That’s funny. Few players are as consistent in what they do on the court game in and game out. Even where and how often he shoots is based on the game flow. Like almost all players, his FG % isn’t as high in some games as it is in others.
Randle is erratic. But I’m glad he’s having fun. It would be great if he could combine that with some ball security.
He’s earning that Dubious Handles moniker in this series for sure. That said, he is playing good defense and rebounding well. Knicks are a better team than a few years ago, so Randle does not need to carry them.
Randle does seem to be in a gd place emotionally. He’s competing. I’ll tell you that. It’s painfully obvious to all now. That Randle is going to be a Knick for awhile now. So next yr Obi1 has to be part of a major deal for us. Love Obi want to see him start.
How nice would it be to have DeRozan at SG. With Grimes backing him up. dreaming
Brunson does have a-lot of Thibs in him. The play the right way approach. Make good decisions and out work them approach. Can’t hurt to have your PGs dad on your staff, for sure.
Knicks FA signings 2022-23 NBA season
Jalen Brunson 4yrs (104 mill)
Isaiah Hartenstein 2yrs (16 mill)
Not bad not bad at all mates ……..
Quickley got robbed. Only missed 1 game. Destroyed Brogdon in total stats. Typical A. silver
I don’t think A. Silver gets any votes for 6th man of the year.
Lol yes Adam Silver stole the election
Brogdon did shoot considerably better, overall, 3pt and FT. Curious ifone is better defensively?
One good ares whipping deserves another. Knicks D the difference in this gm. As it should be. You have to be locked in for 1st gm at MSG. Defense and a good solid bench. Imo Knicks have a better bench. Could be deciding factor.
Knicks bench — 39 pts, 16 reb, 6ast, 8 stl,
Cavs bench — 10 pts, 14 reb, 3 ast, 1 stl
You have to win Sunday. Have to ride this momentum. Only gm that matters is gm4. Let’s do this. “In Thibs we Trust”
“It’s gonna be exciting. It’s gonna be fun. It’s gonna be a dogfight. We sent a statement in Game 2, and you expect them to respond,” Mitchell said after the morning shootaround. “That’s their character. That’s their makeup as a group. We’ve gotta be ready to match that energy and not get too overwhelmed with the noise.”
DM ….. before gm3. He’s a native. He knows that’s a pretty good team they are playing. MSG was electric. Both teams had nerves in beginning.
Mitchell was high scorer with 22 pts, 7 reb,
5 ast.
Jalen Rose called RJ a role player ……Waaat
“In the last couple of days we talked about going to play at the Garden. See, that’s what happens,” Rose said. “You get mesmerized by this big stage, the fans are very loud, it’s celebrity driven and you struggle, in particularly your role players.”
But if you’re a Knicks role player, like R.J. Barrett, you might just be salivating for your chance to shine in front of your home crowd. Barrett got the Knicks going with 10 of the team’s 17 first-quarter points. He finished with 19 points, eight rebounds and three assists and the Knicks faithful showed him love by chanting his name in the arena and in the streets after the game.
Rose played 59 playoff gms. He avg
32 mins, 14.6 pts, 3.2 reb, 2.9 ast
RJ played 8 playoff gms. He avg 32 mins,
14 pts, 6.4 reb, 3 ast
RJ already has better stats. Cause he plays D.
So Rose was less than a Role player. By his own admission …… a talker
14 and 6 while playing decent defense is the very definition of a role player.
Dropping 20 ppg on a team with two other 20+ppg I’d say isn’t a role player. And when you look at his playoff averages, his first year he was a rookie and the current year he’s playing against one of the best defensive teams in the league.
Not sucking feels a lot like all star if you’re a desperate loyalist.
So you agree with him but are mad about it?