The Knicks desperately need a win in Miami on Monday night, or else they would fall into a devastating 3-1 series hole, to which few have ever climbed out of.
For New York to get the critical win in game four, they will need Julius Randle at his best, and most importantly, a composed Randle if the Knicks need to come from behind.
Based on what Gio has seen so far, Randle hasn't shown that he's able to lead a team out of adversity, because he becomes far too obsessive about doing it all on his own.
"He is the exact opposite of what you want when you're behind," Gio said. "What you want is that calming influence…Julius Randle is like 'Oh my God, we gotta do something about this, give me the ball!' and it just turns out to be a mess. I don't want to see that anymore.
Gio saw plenty of that in game three on Saturday, where New York essentially trailed wire to wire, and Randle shot just 4-for-15 from the field while looking lackadaisical on the defensive end. Unless Randle's status quo changes quickly, Gio believes the Knicks are doomed.
"You got the 'I'm going to try too hard to save things' Julius Randle," Gio said. "And he's out of control, going up out of control at the basket, is throwing his arms up, is looking for foul calls, and it's just a mess."
"If we get what we got in game three from him, we've got no shot, and we might be out in five."
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