After Jimmy Butler returned from his ankle sprain and dropped 28 points in game two, while Julius Randle looked disinterested on the defensive end while shooting 4-for-15 from the field, Boomer said the distance between the two was clear.
One is a star, and the other is clearly not.
“We don’t really have a Jimmy Butler,” Boomer said. “It goes to show you that Jimmy Butler is a star, and Julius Randle is not.
“He’s good, don’t get me wrong, but Jimmy Butler is a guy who can take over a game. And when the Knicks don’t have guys making shots, this is what happens.”
Randle certainly hasn’t been making his shots in the playoffs, a trend that is disturbingly similar to his disappearing act in his first postseason series with the Knicks back in 2021. Randle has shown flashes of his best self this postseason, especially in game five against the Cavaliers before reinjuring his ankle, but that version of Randle hasn’t been seen since, and now, he is showing some of the mental lapses that plagued him last season.
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