Knicks 123, Hawks 112: Scenes from Julius Randle’s All-Star Audition Band

If you want to see an NBA All-Star in action, feel free to tune in to MSG next time the New York Knicks play. Julius Randle emphatically considered All-Star on Monday night and his team willing to claim the victory over a game in Atlanta Hawks, 123-112.

How good was Randle? Try 44 points on 14-22 shooting, including a career high of 7 three-pointers, to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists. Randle jumped on fire with 17 points in the first quarter as the Knicks stormed to an early lead of 13 points. But the Hawks crawled back into the game in the second quarter thanks to a hot shot and some absolute bullshit calls in favor of Trae Young.

The Knicks held on to a three-point lead at halftime and the Hawks absolutely blew the doors off them to start third and build up a quick 7-point lead. The beginners looked sluggish, and Tom Thibodeau is not going to make any changes yet. We have seen this farce unfold so many times over the years.

This time, however, Randle did not want to let the Knicks go silent. He bagged consecutive tries to take advantage of Atlanta, and his teammates joined behind him and took the lead towards the end of the third.

The fourth quarter remained a tense affair until Randle struck again and hit this dirty jumper at the end of the shot bell to put the Hawks in bed.

But this game was about more than just Randle. Let’s give credit to RJ Barrett (21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists), who nailed some connections in the fourth try, this one from a beautiful feed from Immanuel Quickley.

Quickley did his thing as usual with 16 points and 5 assists. Look at this nonsense.

In the end, however, the victory belonged to Randle. And his teammates knew it. Take it away, Theo Pinson!

Julius Randle forever! Summary to come.