Knicks end 7-game skid in big way
At least for one night, the Knicks were back to being winners.
Riding RJ Barrett’s 24 points and a strong showing from the young bench, the Knicks snapped their seven-game losing streak by pounding the Clippers on Sunday night in L.A., 116-93.
It wasn’t especially close. The Knicks (26-39) never trailed, holding a double-digit lead for the final 34 minutes to win for the first time in nearly a month.
The Clippers (3432), who weren’t playing injured duo Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, cut the deficit to 12 at the start of the fourth quarter, feeding concerns the Knicks would blow another big lead.
But this time, the reserves, led by Cam Reddish and Immanuel Quickley, promptly killed the Clippers’ comeback and momentum. With Reddish and Quickley taking turns scoring, the Knicks began the fourth quarter on a 20-4 run.
The game-breaking stretch also occurred with Miles McBride at point guard, perhaps giving coach Tom Thibodeau confidence to play the rookie more moving forward.
Reddish finished with 17 points, which was his highest since he joined the Knicks in February. Quickley dropped 19 points with 10 rebounds.
RANDLE FINED $50K
Julius Randle, who was fined $50,000 by the NBA earlier in the day for his scuffle Friday night with Phoenix’s Cam Johnson, struggled in L.A. with just 10 points on 4-of-16 shooting.
The Knicks forward was fined for “forcefully” shoving Phoenix’s Cam Johnson during Friday night’s game and making contact with a referee, the NBA announced Sunday.
The league said Randle didn’t participate with the league’s investigation, adding to the punishment. He’s been fined three times this season by the NBA for a total of $90,000.
The latest offense also probably cost the Knicks a victory. They were leading by 10 late in the third quarter, with Randle as the catalyst, when the 27-yearold turned furious at Johnson for running into his back during a rebound attempt.
Randle pushed aside the arm of the intervening referee to get at Johnson, and unleashed a twohand shove in the chest of the Suns forward.
It turned into a disaster for the Knicks. Randle picked up two techs on the play and was ejected. Johnson scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, including the game-winner trey at the buzzer. Randle said he apologized to his teammates and took responsibility, even if he somewhat questioned the ejection decision.
“I was a little bit surprised,” Randle said ahead of Sunday night’s game against the Kings. “But it’s part of the game. I usually thought I’d get one (technical) and it would be over with. I didn’t see the double tech coming. But it’s still my fault.”
Thibodeau called the ejection “borderline.”
“It’s an emotional game,” the coach said. “There’s going to be exchanges. You have to be careful not to cross over that line. Everyone understands that. it was unfortunate. I thought it was borderline, to be honest with you. You can’t put it in an official’s hands to make a decision like that. We can learn from that.”
There have been concerns and questions around the league about the Knicks enabling Randle’s behavior and not holding him accountable. In addition to the three fines from the NBA, Randle has two ejections and is tied for sixth in the league with 11 techs.
The Knicks were also docked $25,000 in January for violating access rules regarding Randle, essentially eating the fine because he didn’t want to talk to the media after games. Less than a month later, Randle slapped the laptop of a team video coordinator and was restrained by teammates during a timeout.