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New York Knicks All-Star Julius Randle enjoyed a true breakout season en route to winning Most Improved Player, leading the upstart Knicks to a shocking 41-31 record and the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference. After dominating the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in three regular-season matchups, Randle issued a warning to the Hawks before their first-round series as he prepared to make his triumphant entrance to the big playoff stage.
Instead of continuing his regular-season dominance, Randle has been an absolute disaster so far against the Hawks, and his frustrations were on full display late in Game 4 as New York suffered an ugly 113-96 loss to fall behind 3-1. Randle's final stat line of 23 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and two steals looks way more respectable than the prior games, but he still shot just 7-of-19 from the field and had a number of crucial gaffes that cost the Knicks, including five turnovers and poor defense.
After this latest poor game, Randle's shooting percentage is now up to a robust 27.4% in the playoffs. He's shooting 33.3% from 3-point range against the Hawks, meaning he's making less than a quarter of his 2-pointers, which is truly heinous. There was one point in Game 4 when the All-Star clanked several layups in a row and then soon after that got called for an offensive foul (after a successful Hawks challenge) on a hard drive to the basket.
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Randle is learning the hard way what playoff basketball is all about, especially as a top scoring option. The Hawks are throwing all kinds of bodies in Randle's direction, forcing him into tough decisions and a boatload of tough shots. He hasn't handled that pressure well and has forced a lot. It doesn't help that the Knicks don't have many scoring options, with Derrick Rose taking over the mantle as the top dog in this series.
New York isn't dead yet, but Atlanta looks like the much better team. Randle playing a lot better would help turn the tide, but the Hawks have had all the answers for him and it might not be enough anyway.
Randle and the Knicks going out sad wouldn't erase all they accomplished this season. Nobody expected them to be here, so just being in this spot to begin with is a success. But Randle will have to learn from his struggles and make the proper adjustments going forward, especially as he looks to get paid the big bucks.
Julius Randle is no fraud. He's just taking his playoff lumps and going through an important growth process. The hope is he comes back better from this.
