Is Julius Randle playing tonight against the Heat? Latest injury update on Knicks' star ahead of matchup (8th May 2023)
With tonight's Game 4, Julius Randle and the New York Knicks have a shot at redeeming themselves after an abysmal Game 3 performance.
For Game 4, Julius Randle will be available to suit up against the Miami Heat as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing outing in the last game. The Knicks star only had 10 points on 4-15 shooting, including 0-5 from the three-point range, while also posting 14 rebounds and two assists.
When it comes to the Knicks, it wasn't just Randle who struggled last game. But the Miami Heat made sure that no one would have it easy against them as they held the visiting team to just 34.1% shooting, including 20.0% from three-point range.
Even with Miami's lackluster shooting numbers at 38.9%, including 21.9% from the three-point range, the home team's defense was enough for the Heat to throw the first punch of the game and never look back. The Knicks could not make any sort of consistent run to give themselves a fighting chance in the ball game.
Following the loss, Randle spoke to the media to address the Knicks' offensive struggles and the lack of answer to the Heat's game plan all night:
"We’ve been able to do that all year, today not so much. But hopefully we can get back on the right track with that and find a way to make some shots next game and come out with a win.”
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau also shed light on the team's offensive struggles as they held them back from making a solid push to bring them within striking distance of Miami's lead:
“They [Miami] played from a lead the whole game. You give a team a cushion, it’s hard. And every time we seemed to have a crack at getting back into it, we didn’t make the next one. I thought defensively we were solid, but offensively we didn’t play the way we wanted to. And I don’t put it on any one player because I think it’s done collectively.”
Julius Randle's struggles in the postseason
After falling short in reaching the playoffs last year, Julius Randle and the New York Knicks came back into the postseason action and pulled off an upset series win against the No. 4-seed Cleveland Cavaliers, while only being the fifth seed without home-court advantage.
However, the Knicks star struggled all series as he only averaged 14.4 points on 33.8% shooting, including 23.5% from the three-point range, while being a 70% free-throw shooter. He has also averaged 6.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists.
In the two games that he has played in the semifinals, Julius Randle has averaged 17.5 points on 36.4% shooting, including 21.4% from three-point range along with 13.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.