The Knicks fought to the buzzer against the Nets juggler. And after the buzzer.
Star Julius Randle had to be repeatedly barred from going after referee Scott Foster after the Knicks ’117-112 defeat to the Nets on Monday at the Barclays Center.
Randle, who had been called up for a travel offense in the final seconds, had calmed down 40 minutes after the match.
“It was a conversation, it’s best not to comment on the situation,” Randle said. “There was a lot of frustration behind it on both sides. I will let it be in the past and move on to the next game. “
Asked about his fiery post-buzzing reaction, Randle said, “It frustrated me. We fought hard to win the game again. I was just frustrated. “
It was a game the Knicks scored with 18 points in the first half, and ended with final possession after Tom Thibodeau won a challenge in a controversial steal from Alec Burks.
But the Knicks coach was left out of the challenges in the final play in which Randle was asked for a trip, a top-down infraction of the rarely seen old school.
Knicks senior vice president William Wesley had to fight Randle for the track that his star was so upset about, but probably not in time to prevent the NBA from imposing a penalty on the screen.
Randle ran into Jeff Green of the Nets as he headed for the referees, but at least Wesley might have saved an old fight on Brooklyn Street in a sandy Flatbush Avenue. Knicks president Leon Rose was in court also trying to make peace.
After Thibodeau won the challenge with seven seconds left, the Knicks controlled the lead after a jump ball and called for dead time quickly.
Randle got the ball on the right side beyond the 3-point line. He went up for the potential tie and Kyrie Irving got a hand on the ball. Randle fell without firing and dropped the ball immediately to dribble.
But it was too late. Foster called on the trip while Randle seemed to land with possession. He finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Foster told a pool reporter who was next to his call that Irving was touching the ball but not disassembling it, and Randle got to his feet with possession. That is the rule.
“It’s an emotional game, it calmed down immediately,” Thibodeau said. “It was a hard-fought match for both teams. Sometimes he goes his way with whistles, sometimes not. I thought Julius was playing a fantastic game. He played on the 5th, he changed. In the end, it didn’t go our way. “
Irving said he was trying to foul Randle before going up.
“Or I’d need it early, but I saw him queuing up to make a jump shot,” Irving said. “It simply came to our notice then. Scott called travel. I thought Julius made a good play after leaving her. After that I would need him just to get him to the free throw line. That’s how it went. “
Maybe Randle had an education about the rule after the game, as it seemed contrite.
“I just think it’s better to go beyond that and not comment on what I think and what the official thought,” Randle said.
In the previous play, the referees reversed a call for a Burks steal that was originally ruled as a foul on RJ Barrett after they doubled Nets’ Joe Harris on the backcourt, with a three-pointer.
Thibodeau would have challenged Randle’s play, he said, if he was left with a challenge.
“That’s what they said they saw, I didn’t see it that way,” said Thibodeau, whose club fell to 20-20 and faces the Sixers on Tuesday. “Like the other play in the corner, I didn’t see it that way either.”
The Nets gained an 18-point lead in the first half, but the Knicks didn’t back down or walk away and were five points up for much of the final four minutes.
And then Randle was ready for more.
– Additional reports by Brian Lewis