The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers were locked in a battle reminiscent of the early 2000s as both teams struggled to get into a rhythm throughout the night. The referees became particularly whistle-happy, as they called a season-high 13 traveling infractions that just sapped every sort of chance for either team to get into an offensive groove. Still, Julius Randle and the Knicks won't be complaining much, as they went on to claim a 92-81 win to snap their five-game losing streak.
In fact, Randle was in such high spirits after the game that he stopped just short of performing a full-blown standup comedy routine centered on traveling jokes. And who could blame him?
“The travels,” Randle answered when asked what the difference in the Knicks' defense was from their 121-100 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night, per Fred Katz.
Julius Randle didn't stop there. It seems as if he and the Knicks have stumbled upon the defensive secret sauce that would allow them to crash the league's upper-echelon.
“Hopefully, we can force some more travels,” Randle added.
Even late in the game, with Donovan Mitchell still trying to spark a Cavs comeback (and being called for a travel in the process), Randle couldn't help but dance away the absurdity of the situation.
The 13TH TRAVEL call of the night, players can only laugh at this point
Look at Randle, lmao pic.twitter.com/bdfN5XB1zH
— Tony Pesta (@Tony_Pesta) December 5, 2022
At the very least, the NBA is coming through on their word of cracking down on traveling infractions. Still, Julius Randle couldn't help but feel like the league is leaning on the side of overcorrection.
"Didn't they get a memo to stop calling them?
"Oh, to call more?
"Oh, well they did it.
"They definitely did it."
– Julius Randle on the 14 travel calls in the Cavs-Knicks game pic.twitter.com/ee3vzPAMFs
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) December 5, 2022
Maybe Randle is having this much of a laugh since he wasn't called for a travel for the entire night. (Knicks teammate RJ Barrett and Cavs forward Kevin Love led the way with three travels each.) Still, this is a message to the rest of the NBA that perhaps the art of footwork shouldn't get too lost in the shuffle.
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