The Knicks may have won Game 4 of their first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, pushing their lead to 3-1, but New York star Julius Randle was in no mood to talk about it after struggling on Sunday.
Randle, 28, skipped post-game media availability, which TNT analyst and Basketball Hall of Famer Charles Barkley thought was disappointing.
‘I like Julius Randle, he’s a very good player and a nice kid,’ Barkley began before adding: ‘I hate players who only speak to the media when things are going good… It doesn’t work like that.’
Randle was just 3 of 10 from the field for just seven points and two rebounds in Sunday’s win. He averaged 25.1 points and 10 rebounds a game for the Knicks in 2022-23.
‘And what disappoints me the most, his team actually won,’ Barkley continued. ‘First of all, he wasn’t playing well, but you don’t get talk to the press just when things are going good. But also, if your team won the game, you’re supposed to be happy y’all won the game. That’s very disappointing from a hell of a player who’s a good dude.’
Randle (left) skipped out on reporters after scoring just seven points in Sunday’s win – a decision that drew the ire of TNT analyst Charles Barkley
Randle’s play may have been impacted by a growing number of ailments, including a hard foul he took from the Cavs’ Jarrett Allen in Game 2.Â
‘It doesn’t even matter at this point,’ Randle told reporters Thursday.
”My a** hurts, my elbow hurts, but I gotta get ready to play for tomorrow,’ Randle said last week ahead of Game 3. ‘So it don’t matter at this point, I’m ready to go.’
Randle had only 11 points in the Knicks Game 3 win on Friday night in Manhattan. Â
Fortunately for New York, Randle wasn’t really needed for Sunday’s Game 4.
Point guard Jalen Brunson scored 29 points, RJ Barrett had 26 and the Knicks took a 3-1 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in their first-round series with a 102-93 victory on Sunday.
Josh Hart moved into the starting lineup and added 19 points and seven rebounds for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who can reach the second round for the first time since 2013 with a victory in Cleveland on Wednesday. New York would host Game 6, if necessary, on Friday at what has been a deafening Madison Square Garden during the last two games.
‘There’s nothing like a big game at the Garden,’ Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said.
Julius Randle has scored only 18 points in two games since taking a hard foul from Jarrett Allen
There might be a few more to come, the way his team is defending.
New York forced Cleveland All-Star Donovan Mitchell into one of the worst games of his postseason career, finishing with just 11 points on 5-for-18 shooting. Darius Garland had 23 points and 10 assists for the Cavs, bouncing back nicely after going 4 for 21 in the Knicks’ Game 3 romp. Jarrett Allen and Caris LeVert each scored 14 points.
‘This (is) not over with,’ Mitchell said. ‘The way we lost sucks. We can’t hang our heads and ultimately give up. We’re not that type of group. Like I said, we’ll be ready for Game 5.’
Barrett was only 6 for 25 in the two games in Cleveland but has been outstanding back at home, where fans chanted his name in the second half. He had five straight points to break the Knicks free from a 75-all tie, then added another basket before Hart scored to push it to 90-81 midway during a stretch when Cleveland could only manage two baskets in more than four minutes.
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After limiting the Cavs on Friday to 79 points, the lowest total in an NBA game this season, the Knicks led most of the way in this one to reach the verge of the Eastern Conference semifinals for the first time since beating Boston in 2013.
They’ve only made it back to the playoffs once since then, falling in five games to Atlanta in 2021. But this team is more complete, thanks largely to signing Brunson last summer after he helped Dallas reach the Western Conference finals, then acquiring Hart from Portland during this season.
Jalen Brunson (11) looks to drive against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland on Sunday
Starting together for the first time since they were college teammates at Villanova, that duo combined for 20 of the Knicks’ 30 points in the first quarter, which ended with them leading by seven.
New York pushed it into double digits in the second and Brunson’s 3-pointer midway through the period made it 46-31. The Knicks were ahead 54-45.
‘During the regular season, we were able to flip some switches and come back in games,’ Cleveland coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. ‘This time it just doesn’t present the opportunity to do so.’
But Garland got the first two baskets of the third quarter, set up Cleveland’s next three scores, then had the Cavs’ next two field goals to tie it at 59. His three-point play gave Cleveland a 66-63 lead and he had 11 points and five assists in the period, before Brunson made a 3-pointer with 6.2 seconds left that sent the Knicks to the fourth with a 73-71 edge.
‘Jalen hit a huge shot at the end of the third to put us up, so that was big, and fourth quarter, just staying tough,’ Barrett said. ‘Every time they threw a punch, we threw something back.’
