Julius Randle dismantles Rockets as Knicks reach major milestone
NY Post
There’s something about his home state of Texas that brings out the very best in Julius Randle.
After ransacking Dallas for 44 points last month, Randle kicked off May with a 31-points-in-30-minutes punishing of Houston as the Knicks began their six-game Western trip with a 122-97 whitewashing of the awful Rockets. The victory assured the Knicks (36-28) of a .500 record. They haven’t posted record of .500 or better since 2012-13. The Knicks also hadn’t won in Houston since 2015-16, but this is a sorry Rockets edition as the club fell to 16-49, 5-35 in their last 40, and are missing starting point guard John Wall.It was only a three-second glimpse, but Matt Rempe, finally, showcased offensive strides. The ones he started talking about in the preseason — after a summer’s worth of work — and kept doubling down on, even when he fluctuated in and out of the Rangers lineup and shuttled back and forth to AHL Hartford.
In a different time, in a season to come, we may be inclined to wax poetic about the way this one played out. In a different time, in a season to come, the Nets will be seeking to stack wins and not losses, will be fighting for playoff seeding and not for a few extra ping-pong balls in the draft lottery this spring.
The NBA has an All-Star Game problem. Despite Adam Silver’s efforts to inject juice into the February showcase — including a format alteration to the 2025 game that is too confusing to attempt to understand before it’s inevitably changed again — there’s little interest in watching teams eschew defense for a series of layup line highlights. That also means the most entertaining part of the NBA All-Star Game is just like the Pro Bowl — debating over who should get a spot.