Julius Randle, Knicks blow lead as cold shooting dooms them late in loss to Magic
The Knicks couldn’t overcome the absence of Jalen Brunson and a shooting night from Julius Randle as cold as the weather in Buffalo.
Despite Miles McBride again doing his best to pick up the slack — and OG Anunoby filling in with his role-playing duties — the lack of offensive creation doomed the Knicks down the stretch of a 98-94 defeat to the Magic on MLK Day.
The Knicks (23-17) led for most of the game but managed just one point over a six-minute stretch of the fourth quarter, which included two big missed free throws from Julius Randle with 2:37 remaining and a one-point deficit.
It broke the Knicks’ backs and they didn’t have Brunson to fix it.
“Yeah, obviously, it is more difficult when you’re missing 25 [points] a game [from Brunson], someone who can control the pace of the game,” said Josh Hart, who shot just 2 of 7. “So obviously that’s difficult to replace. When he’s out, we’ve got to figure out plays that get guys in positions to be successful.”
Randle was succinct in his explanation of the problematic offense in the fourth quarter.
“Stagnant,” Randle said, “ way too stagnant.”
Randle, who also struggled without Brunson in Saturday’s victory over the Grizzlies shot a miserable 5-for-18 with 15 points, as the Magic made a concerted effort to keep him out of the paint.
“They played a very physical style, packed the paint, obviously there were added eyes on [Randle,] but we’ve gotta figure that out,” Hart said.
The offensive sets were slow to develop without Brunson, and the Knicks didn’t help themselves by missing 27 of their 40 treys.
“We got some big bodies down there, too,” Magic guard Cole Anthony said while playfully explaining how his team stopped Randle. “We got like eight 7-footers on this team. And they all play their part pretty well. … We just did a great job putting some bodies on him and baited him into taking some tough 2s. I think that’s what ended up getting him out. Because he started the half hot. He hit two 3s, and he got kind of comfortable out there, tried to catch some more. And then we didn’t let him get to the shots that he wanted to get to.”
Magic power forward Paolo Banchero countered with 20 points on 9 of 19 shooting, including a clutch jumper with 2:11 remaining to give Orlando a 3-point edge.
The Magic (22-18) are now 2-0 against the Knicks.
“We got a bunch of studs on this team,” said Anthony, who scored 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench. “Paolo is the biggest stud on this team. He’s a superstar.”
At this stage in their respective careers, Brunson is a bigger superstar than Banchero and watched the loss in street clothes.
Beyond his absence being felt, the Knicks were also beaten on the glass, 46-41, and gave up several key offensive boards in crunch time.
It was the second straight loss the Knicks were hurt on a possession by not securing the defensive rebound.
“We were up five [points] going into the fourth,” Tom Thibodeau said. “They’re a good defensive team. We got to trust the pass. I thought we missed some open shots that we got to make. The rebounding was a problem. They got timely rebounds. … We should’ve been in position to win the game. And then offensively, we got to do better.”
