Julius Randle had stressed that the Knicks “definitely have to take advantage” of the fact that NBA top scorer Bradley Beal didn’t play for the Wizards Friday night.
Randle, a potential star forward, returned to the court after one of his worst offensive games of the season, with 24 points and 18 rebounds in the season to lead the Knicks to a 109-91 victory in Washington.
The win came at a price, however, as starting center Mitchell Robinson fractured his right hand at the end of the second quarter after recording a double-double, with 10 points and 14 rebounds, in less than 20 minutes of play.
“We are sorry for him, but we must prepare for the next one. As you know, the games keep coming, “coach Tom Thibodeau said of Robinson, who will be reevaluated Saturday in New York.” I thought Nerlens [Noel] he stepped in and did a great job in the second half, and that’s the great value of having a guy like Taj [Gibson] in the list.
“So, next man. We have to turn the cars around and be ready to start ”.
Derrick Rose contributed 14 points and six assists with four steals in 20 minutes off the bench in his second game with the Knicks (12-15) after being acquired on Sunday by the Pistons. Rookie Immanuel Quickley scored 16 points and Elfrid Payton finished with 12.
Wizard Russell Westbrook finished a rebound with a triple-double (23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds) in the absence of Beal, who leads the NBA with 32.8 points per game.
The Knicks are watching Beal as a possible business target. They also look at Rockets star Victor Oladipo, who will also miss Saturday’s game against the Knicks in the garden with a foot and ankle injury.
“We know we just have to go out and play our game,” Rose said. “We know that with the boys who intervene for these boys, this is a professional league, everyone is there for a reason.
“So, if we go out and match its intensity, we play the way we know how to play, we are in almost every game. … If we go out and do what we’re supposed to do, we know it will be in our favor, if we go out and play as hard as we can. “
Robinson added four dunks and grabbed seven rebounds in the first quarter, which ended the Knicks with a 30-23 lead.
Rose and Quickley combined for six points on the bench early in the second quarter, and Rose gave an input to Obi Toppin (eight points) to get a 40-31 lead just four minutes into the session.
Rose also found Randle a few minutes later with a 45-34 lead. Randle had endured his poorest shooting game of the season (4 vs. 18) and only scored 12 points in Tuesday’s two-point loss to Miami.
Without Robinson after the break, the Knicks started 13-5 to open the third and reduce their 53-42 lead to three in the half. But they closed out the quarter with a 9-0 run, including a late three-point play from Randle, with a 79-64 lead entering the quarter.
“I thought we had started well and then we were a little careless. I thought our bench gave us great minutes in the first half. A little bit, we have control there, “Thibodeau said.” We didn’t close well in the second quarter and the third was a bit chopped up. And the bench came back in, and somehow made us come back again. “