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The New York Knicks toppled the Minnesota Timberwolves on November 7, and a big reason for that was the strong play of Julius Randle who tied a career high in eight three pointers made.
While this is a shot that fans would like to see him take less, it’s hard to argue with him when they are all going in. He ended up finishing with a season-best 31 points in the double digit win, so a lot of things were working for him.
In fact, this is now two games in a row where Randle put up very solid numbers, and he thinks there’s a reason for that.
After the win, Randle was asked what the “biggest change” was coming into the year, and he gave a simple, yet detailed answer.
Randle is Having Fun
It might go without saying for many people, but having fun out there is a big part of the game. Randle has stated he is having a good time out there, so the game is coming more naturally to him. He also talked about working on his efficiency this year, and that has paid off too.
“Efficiency, just trying to be efficient in everything I do,” he said when asked about his biggest change coming into the season. “Making quick decisions, being efficient. Honestly, just having fun. Put a smile on your face, go out and there have fun. Remember why you play the game.”
On the season Randle is averaging 20.1 points per game to go along with 8.9 rebounds, so his numbers are still very solid. His assists are down to 3.6 a game, but that’s to be expected with Jalen Brunson at point guard.
The most important thing with the forward is his field goal percentage. He was down by 40 percent last season, definitely not a number you want to be close to being a top scoring option on a team.
He’s around 46 percent this season, which is a much better number but it’s still down from his career average 47.2 percent. Randle has largely been up and down throughout his Knicks tenure, but fans will always remember and compare him to his All-NBA year from 2020 when the Knicks secured the fourth seed in the playoffs.
Looking back at it, that might have been more of an outlier than anything, but it was still something he can always work towards. Knicks fans seem to praise him and turn on him on a game to game basis. It wasn’t that long ago they were calling on him to be traded.
Need More From RJ Barrett
While Randle has been relatively solid to star the season, RJ Barrett has gotten off to a slower start than expected.
After having a dominant preseason, Barrett finds himself shooting just 43 percent from the field, a number that will have to increase if the team wants to find more success.
His career average is just 41.9 percent, so he hasn’t really been a great shooter in his career, but with the $100 million+ extension signed, the team will likely want a bit more out of him. He’s averaging close to 20 points per game, and it’s easy to imagine that number being higher if he became just a bit more efficient.
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