As a 19-point lead dwindled down to one with five minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Knicks looked to be headed towards another late-game spiral, doomed to drop another game that they had no business losing.
But right on time, New York's star and offensive leader awakened to get the Knicks a much-needed win.
Shortly after Georges Niang drilled a thee to pull Philadelphia within one and try his best to pump up the home crowd, Julius Randle silenced the Sixers fans with a driving layup to put the Knicks back in front by three, then drilled a 3-pointer 25 seconds later to stretch the lead back to six. When Philadelphia pulled within three again, Randle responded 20 seconds later with another three, then sealed the deal with a putback layup with 1:11 to go to get the lead up to 11, putting the Sixers away and reminding everyone of his capability to carry an offense when needed.
"The way Julius closed the game with one big shot after the next, he can do it in a variety of ways," head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "The three, attacking the board. When he plays like that, it makes us a different team."
Randle had been under fire after New York's loss to the Cavaliers on Sunday, shooting 7-for-17 from the field and 1-for-5 from downtown to account for his second rough shooting night over the team's last three games. Sure, some regression could be expected after his All-Star campaign last year capped off by winning the NBA's Most Improved Player Award, but his offensive woes led more reactionary contingencies of the Knicks fanbase to call for less minutes for Randle, even in the fourth quarter in close games.
Of course, such a desire is nothing short of lunacy, which Randle reminded everyone of in a big way on Monday.
"I just took what the game gave me," Randle said. "The biggest thing is out there to just stay confident and trust in the work. Those are the moments that I want to thrive in, and that's just what it was, trusting the work and being in the moment."
Randle finished the night shooting 12-for-25 from the field while hitting five of his 10 3-point attempts, ending the night with 31 points and one big reminder that he was the face of last year's surprising run to the playoffs for a reason.
But Randle made sure to take responsibility for the team's struggles after Sunday's loss, particularly on the defensive end. Randle's big night was capped off by a huge showing on the offensive end, but in Thibodeau's eyes Randle looked like his old self from the opening tip, and stayed true to his identity of a leader by backing up his words on the court.
"He was a monster," Thibodeau said. "All the way around. The way the game started, the energy he was playing with, he set the tone defensively."
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