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With just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter of the New York Knicks‘ Tuesday night tilt with the Indiana Pacers, fans could already feel the big choke coming. After RJ Barrett had dropped 24 first-half points and helped his team build a 12-point lead, the score was suddenly level at 70.
Just like that, the Knicks were staring a three-game losing streak right in the face.
On this night though, New York’s star duo was determined to snap the skid. Barrett finished the night with a game-high 32 points while a returning Julius Randle chipped in with 30 points of his own,16 rebounds and four assists to pace the Knicks to a 104-94 win over the Pacers.
It was an important effort for the Knicks, who are desperately seeking to make up some ground in the Eastern Conference.
Randle Makes an Early Return
The game marked the first time that Randle had taken the court since he was put into health and safety protocols on December 30.
Under the league’s old guidelines, he would have had to remain in quarantine for at least 10 days. Now, though, vaccinated and asymptomatic players can resume basketball activities after just five days or with the return of two negative PCR tests. As a result, he was only out of the Knicks’ lineup for two games before he cleared protocols on Tuesday.
While having a night like Randle’s in a comeback effort would be good by anyone’s standard, it was especially important for the big man. In his last two games before hitting the Covid list, Randle averaged just nine points on 7-of-31 shooting (and 1-of-8 from deep).
Along the way, the Knicks were outscored by 25 points in his 64 minutes on the hardwood.
At the time, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau indicated that his starting power forward had been “nicked up.” Clearly, that wasn’t the case against Indy, which was outscored by 12 points when Randle was on the floor.
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Thibodeau on His Star Duo
There were, of course, other players contributing to the Knicks’ cause in the Pacers game. For his part, Alec Burks added 14 points, six boards, four assists and three steals (not to mention one pants-on-the-ground moment). Meanwhile, Mitchell Robinson hit 4-of-5 shots en route to an eight-point, reight-rebound night.
However, it was Randle and Barrett cleaning up at the basket that won the day. New York outscored Indy 54-38 in the paint and Thibodeau was over the moon about the effort.
“The big thing is for RJ, it was incredible for him to start the game,” Thibodeau said post-game, via the New York Post. “With both guys, it’s them attacking the rim. The game will tell you what to do. If we settle for shots, it’s going to cause problems. If we’re attacking the rim, it makes us different.”
Where Randle’s comeback effort was concerned, the Knicks coach had this to say:
“For Julius to do what he did today was just remarkable — to come off safety protocols, travel, get here and play,’’ he said. “We had no idea what he’d be like. Unbelievable effort. Unbelievable all the things he did … physicality was huge for us. His rebounding was the difference in the game.’’
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