Julius Randle is out with a sprained ankle, and it’s possible he won’t return to action at all this season if the Knicks do not get out of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Boomer Esiason, though, is confident they can…because the Knicks may be better without Randle?
“All I can tell you is that, when you watch it, it's just a different brand of basketball,” Boomer said Monday, hours after the Knicks clinched a playoff berth with a win over the Wizards. “It's more movement, it's more running, it's more athleticism. There's really nobody stopping anything. It's actually fun to watch.”
There are those that will say the Knicks need Randle, which both Boomer & Gio acknowledge, but given the brand of basketball they’re playing without him, is that entirely true?
“I know that there are people out there who will say, ‘oh, we have to have Julius,’ and yeah, I guess it would mean a lot to go against the Cavaliers,” Boomer said, “and when they beat the Cavaliers, it was like, ‘wow, that’s a statement victory.’”
“I agree, and I was one of those people that said that even though Julius Randle has got his flaws, if they want to win that series, they are going to need him and they're gonna need him playing at the level he's played at for most of this year – but I don't know if that's right anymore,” Gio fired back. “Now, I know that the playoffs are a different intensity and the last time we saw Julius Randle, he was not good in the playoffs, and h is the intensity that he had ended up being working out negatively for him. Clinching the playoff spot is awesome, and I'm not so sure if that Julius Randle injury is going to hurt as much as I originally thought after watching them play like this.”
Smaller ball will be the name of the game, and Boomer believes beyond the known quantities, there will be one big X-factor for the Randle-less Knicks.
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“Quentin Grimes…nobody talks about him, he’s an under-the-radar player,” Boomer said. “He had a huge game yesterday, probably because RJ (Barrett) was not there, so he had a few more opportunities, I’m not really sure, but all I know is that it just looks like a different team; they look like a young, athletic, high flying team.”
Boomer doesn’t know how far that will take the Knicks, but
“I just feel like it has lifted like a dead weight off the team, like in the way that they're playing and the way that everybody's getting involved and of course they're making shots, which is obviously the key here,” Boomer said, “but man, they just look different.”
“Yeah, I know, and I don't want to discount how important Randle has been to this team this year – he’s been their leading scorer and a huge part of getting in the playoffs again and they're going to be a five seed,” Gio said, “but also what is a fact is that in these last number of games, they look great.”