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The New York Knicks are back in the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 NBA season and a big reason for that is the strong play of All-Star Julius Randle.
It may have taken a few seasons, but Randle has officially blossomed into a star and he is beloved by Knicks fans at the Garden. His performance this year didn’t go unnoticed as he was crowned Most Improved Player, beating out Detroit’s Jerami Grant and Denver’s Michael Porter Jr.
He earned 98 first place votes out of 100 and was able to take a team that missed the playoffs by a large margin last year and turn them into a team with home-court advantage in the first round.
Knicks legend and NBA Hall of Famer Earl Monroe believes that Randle should be having the opportunity to take home even more hardware. He says that Randle should be included in MVP talks.
Big Praise From Earl the Pearl
In response to a highlight reel of plays from Randle this season, Monroe came in with huge praise himself.
“Congratulations [Julius Randle]. Should be in top tier of MVP conversation too,” he tweeted.
Randle averaged a career high in points, rebounds and assists this year, so the reward was well-deserved. He becomes the second player to win Most Improved Player in his seventh season or later, joining Hedo Turkoglu.
If you strictly look at his stats – 24.1 PPG, 10.2 RPG and 6 APG – they could definitely be considered MVP worthy.
The finalists for the MVP award include Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic and Philadelphia 76ers’ center Joel Embiid.
Only Jokic and Milwaukee Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo join Randle this season as players who lead their respective teams in points, rebounds and assists per game.
Despite this, it wasn’t enough to garner much MVP consideration, but you can consider Earl Monroe impressed by the feat.
Knicks Look to Even Series Against Hawks
As many players around the league would tell you, winning awards is nice, but winning is better.
You can lump Randle in with that crowd as his sights are set on the bigger picture and that’s winning the series against the Hawks.
Thanks to a game-winning shot by Trae Young, the Knicks find themselves in an 0-1 hole heading in Game 2, and it will be important to grab a win before they head to Atlanta.
By losing Game 1, the Knicks lost control of home court, but if they can win Game 2 and steal a game in Atlanta, they’ll still be looking good.
The Hawks have proven they’ll be a tough foe, but a lot of the struggle in Game 1 was because of an off game from Julius Randle. If he’s able to bounce back, the series could very well be heading to Atlanta tied up and the Knicks will have all of the momentum.
Knicks vs. Hawks Game 2 takes place at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, May 26 at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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