This time, Randle, not boss, takes stage with Cavs in town

Money comes with expectations. Expectations come with pressure.

Julius Randle, fresh off signing his $63 million deal, had started his Knick career uneasily and disappointingly.

He often wore the frustration on his sleeve, sitting at his locker following defeats with a dour look and speaking in hushed tones. But he told the Daily News that the contract — which includes $36 million guaranteed for the first two years — wasn’t driving the anxiety.

“No, the money is in the bank. So it’s not pressure for that,” Randle told the Daily News. “Me and (coach David Fizdale) joke about it all the time — the money is the bank, just go out and have fun.

“But more so than the money, I have more responsibility.”

The ‘responsibility’ is the weight of running an offense in the face of defen- sive pressure — the type Randle didn’t experience with the Pelicans or Lak- ers. It manifested into sloppy play and piling defeats.

But there may have been a breakthrough in Monday night’s 123-105 victory over the Cavs. Randle said he spoke pregame with his agent, CAA’s Aaron Mintz, about improving his game by picking up the tempo.

Randle then dropped 30 points on 12-of-17 shooting in a statement performance.

“(Mintz) is like my brother. He was just telling me how to make the game easier on me. I was just locked in,” Randle said. “I was locked in on running the floor. If I had the ball, got a rebound to push, I’m just running the floor. I felt like that put me in a good rhythm.”

Randle came into Monday night on a stretch of inefficiency. His scoring and shooting percentage were way down from the previous season in New Orleans. His turnovers were way up. Randle had a habit of dribbling into a crowded paint and making poor decisions.

It was wearing on him.

“I talk to (Mintz) every day. He talks me off a ledge every day. It’s like, I joke with him, it’s like my sane side — him and my wife,” Randle said. “Because I’m ready to blow up and they kind of talk me back to reality. He gives me a day just to chill out and then he talks me back to reality.

“It’s frustrating,” Randle added. “You get frustrated sometimes when you don’t get the results you want. I’m very impatient,” he said. “And that’s something — basketball requires patience and I’ve learned better over the course of my career. But I’m impatient. And it’s frustration sometimes. But games like tonight show the potential or whatever. But I’m on to the next one.”

Still, Fizdale has allowed Randle to run the offense as the point-forward, a move that absorbed lumps. The coach was rewarded for his faith on Monday. Randle, who was the consolation prize after the Knicks struck out on star free agents, scored 23 points by the break and finished with four assists and just one turnover.

The Knicks took a 20-point lead in the second quarter and never took their foot off Cleveland’s throat.

“I still got a ways to go to get better at it (handling the added attention of the defenses). But it is (getting better). I just got to figure out ways to get the defenses off-balance and make the games easier for me,” he said. “Where I can make quick and efficient decisions. Where I don’t have to overdribble and face a crowd and face a set defense. So today for me was running the floor, getting in position and getting easy ones. And that’s me. Honestly. I don’t know why I got away from it honestly, but that’s me.”

Of course, Randle needs this consistently to shake the reputation of being an empty-calorie stat machine. Big numbers with zero playoff games have defined the early part of Randle’s career.

And Monday night was, in many ways, a schedule win for the Knicks. The Cavaliers, projected as one of the league’s worst, were in the second night of a back-to-back and rested their best player, Kevin Love. They were on a three-game losing streak.

But the Knicks (4-10) aren’t in a position to take anything for granted. About a week prior, Cleveland obliterated the Knicks at MSG, with Cavs’ guard Collin Sexton running amok. The Knicks’ effort, or lack thereof, prompted Steve Mills to hold a surprise press conference to voice its displeasure for the start of the season.

The temperature on Fizdale’s seat was turned up.

Since that impromptu presser from Mills, the Knicks are 2-2 and could easily be 3-1. The schedule turns daunting with 11 straight games against playoff teams from last season, starting Wednesday in Philadelphia.

“We’re just taking it one game at a time,” Marcus Morris said. “We’re going to go in there, we’re going to fight. We’ll see how it goes. We’ll worry about ourselves and we’re not backing down. Last year was last year. It’s a new season. Teams have been beat this season and they can be beat.”

Regardless of the opponent, the Knicks will be in a much better position to win if Monday night’s Randle shows up.