The Knicks, on their home floor, were leading the Spurs by 20 on Monday night, but a scatter of boos could be heard coming down from the Madison Square Garden stands.
Those boos were aimed at Julius Randle, who struggled once again as he continues to look less and less like the All-Star he was last season. Randle managed just two points, his lowest output as a Knick, on just 1-of-7 shooting in New York's blowout victory over San Antonio, drawing more frustration from the home fans as they have shown for much of this season.
"We love our fans," head coach Tom Thibodeau said. "Our fans are fantastic, there's no better place to play in the NBA. There's an appreciation for him, but there's gonna be praise, there's gonna be criticism, and don't get locked up in either…when we play well, we know how much our fans love this team. And we love them."
Randle did add 12 rebounds and was a +16 on the night, but his low scoring output was the continuation of recent offensive struggles. Over his last four games, sandwiched around a two-game stint in health and safety protocols, Randle is shooting just 36.7 percent from the field and just 19.4 percent from downtown. But Thibodeau doesn't focus on the individual stats if his team is winning, regardless of who is leading the offensive charge.
"I just want him to play the game," Thibodeau said. The type of attention that he's gonna get because of who he is…I want him to make the right play. I don't want him to fight pressure with pressure…I want him to find the open man.
"Winning is the most important thing. I don't get caught up in how many points someone scores or how many rebounds he has, I want to know how the team is doing when you're on the floor."
The fans, or at least a group of them, didn't seem to agree on Wednesday night, continuing a feud between a portion of the fanbase and Randle that has raged on throughout the season. It came to a boil last week, when Randle gave a thumbs down to the crowd during the team's fourth quarter comeback against Boston after he and the Knicks were loudly booed during an ugly first half. Randle later told reporters the message of his gesture was to "Shut the f--k up," resulting in a $25,000 fine from the league. He apologized after, but some fans were still angry on Monday, even during a lopsided victory.
"It's not like he was out there doing nothing," RJ Barrett said. "He was grabbing every rebound, getting us going on the break and playing defense…he's doing a lot."
Randle was just given a big contract extension this past offseason, so many are looking for more than rebounds and defensive effort. Randle was expected to lead the offense this season, but lately, he has only shown that in brief flashes. But Thibodeau insists that he, and Randle, only care about the final outcome, regardless of how they get there.
"Winning is important to him," Thibodeau said. "I want it to be important to our team. Everyone has to sacrifice for the team. Most nights, he's the primary scorer…as a primary scorer, you have a responsibility of making the right play.
"He's a pro. He'll navigate through it."
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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