Getty Julius Randle #30 of the New York Knicks faces a double team from LeBron James #23 and Anthony Davis #3 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
In 2018, Julius Randle asked the Los Angeles Lakers to let him walk after they signed LeBron James. He doesn’t want to have his career buried under the large shadow of James.
Five years and two All-Star berths later, Randle outdueled James in the marquee matchup of power forwards to help the New York Knicks spoil the Lakers’ In-Season Championship banner celebration.
“Every time I play against him. I learn how he attacks the game, controls the game, plays with pace,” Randle said via New York Post. “How he looks to score, get other guys going. He’s truly a genius of this game. One of the greatest if not the greatest. Any time I get a chance to match up against him, I love to compete against him and learn from him.”
Compete he did.
Randle delivered 27 points and 14 rebounds and fittingly sealed their 114-109 win on Monday, December 18, with a dunk off a James’ missed 3-pointer.
“Julius was phenomenal,” Thibodeau said.
The Knicks improved to 2-2 in their current five-game road trip while the Lakers slipped to 1-3 since winning the In-Season Tournament championship.
James tried to rally the Lakers with his triple-double (25 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists). But he bricked a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left that could have cut the deficit to two.
Julius Randle as LeBron Stopper
Randle set the tone for the Knicks’ win with 10 points in the first quarter. He played every second of the opening quarter. He had 16 points by halftime and a busted lip.
But that did not deter him from haunting his former team.
“After I had to get four stitches, yeah. I was a little bit more motivated,” Randle said.
“I think that’s that’s natural,” Thibodeau said of the extra motivation playing against a former team. “He’s got a tough matchup the whole game. He’s got to guard LeBron and he’s got to do what he has to do for us offensively — just all around in it there.”
Randle held James to 3 of 9 shooting, per NBA.com’s matchup tracking data.
Anthony Davis was the only other starter who scored in double figures for the Lakers. Davis, a one-time teammate of Randle in New Orleans during his pit stop between the Lakers and Knicks, finished with 32 points and 14 rebounds.
Unlike James, Randle mustered plenty of support.
Jalen Brunson led the Knicks in scoring with 29 points, 11 in the fourth quarter. Immanuel Quickley came off the bench with 20 points.
Knicks Stay Afloat Without Mitchell Robinson
Isaiah Hartenstein grabbed a career-high 17 rebounds in 39 minutes as Jericho Sims and Taj Gibson limped out, leaving him alone as the Knicks big man.
The Knicks won the rebounding battle, 52-41, despite missing their injured starting center Mitchell Robinson. Behind Randle’s relentless attack, the Knicks also dominated the scoring inside the paint, 62-52.
“We knew coming into the game that they’re a very good offensive rebounding team,” James said. “They thrive on playing in the paint. We had opportunities to get some hits on guys, we just weren’t able to clean glass all the time.”
Hartenstein grabbed seven offensive rebounds for the Knicks, who improved to 3-2 without Robinson.