New York Knicks star forward Julius Randle finally had an off night after a tremendous and prolonged stretch of brilliant basketball.
In the Knicks’ heartbreaking 111-107 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Randle shot just 9-29 from the field, and a ghastly 1-12 from deep as New York’s four-game winning streak is snapped on their home floor.
Randle was still able to notch in 25 points and 16 rebounds and also recorded two steals in the loss, but he seemed to struggle to get shots to fall right from the opening tip.
- NBA exec critical of Knicks’ season finale win, picks 76ers to win first-round series in 7
- Knicks’ Bojan Bogdanovic receives third-place vote for Sixth Man of The Year Award
- NBA admits to four blown calls in Knicks Game 2 win over 76ers
In the first quarter, he scored just two points and shot a horrendous 1-12 from the field and 0-8. He was finding decent looks to take shots, but there was a lid on the rim for Randle as he just couldn’t buy a bucket.
His best quarter of the game came in the third, where he scored 13 points and recorded his lone three-pointer. He seemed to finally start to heat up and stir up a big Knicks run to help them pull away.
His resurgent quarter allowed the Knicks to lead by as much as 17 late in the third quarter. However, they were unable to hold off Jrue Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo down the stretch and ended up losing the game by four.
Randle spoke to reporters about his rough shooting on Monday and expressed how he is not too overly concerned about what this bad game means for the future.
“I’m not really worried about it. They’ll go in next game.”
Julius Randle via SNY
Randle was not the only Knick who struggled to hit shots from outside, as the team shot just 11-41 from three-point distance. Despite their shooting struggles tonight, the Knicks still played a very hard-fought game and kept up with one of the best teams in the NBA from the opening tip to the final buzzer.
Their four-game win streak is now over, but the Knicks are in good position to start a new one and move past this grueling defeat. Six of their next seven games are against teams currently below .500, so they must take advantage of the easier portion of the schedule now to be able to make some serious noise in the Eastern Conference as the season winds down.
Randle and the Knicks will look to bounce back when they stay home and take on the Indiana Pacers at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @DylanBacker_