NEW YORK – Facts Knicks‘ Julius Randle and coach Tom Thibodeau walked off the floor of Barclays Center Tuesday night talking to each other and “furious” during the ceremony. 112-110 holes come brooklyn network.
Randle had 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists but only dribbled twice the whole game. The Knicks’ star striker was initially reluctant to talk about the run until he was asked if he was surprised he didn’t get the benefit of the calls normally reserved for the team’s star.
“Have to ask them,” Randle said of the crew of Scott Foster, Mark Lindsay and Jason Goldenberg. “I don’t know what they’re watching or what they’re seeing. Playing aggressive, attacking paint at the same time, I can’t be penalized for just being stronger. And that’s the answer I got today. “
The 6-foot-8 and 250-pound Randle said the crew told him his stature and strength were why he didn’t get more calls.
“They say because certain contacts don’t affect me like it affects other players,” Randle said. “Because I’m better, they miss the calls.”
Randle said when asked what his reaction was when he heard that. “To be honest with you, because that’s not how you run the game.”
While Randle appeared calm when speaking to reporters after the game, Thibodeau appeared as sad and frustrated as he was. The Knicks coach cited how the Nets went to the free-throw line 25 times compared with the Knicks’ 12 trips.
But what really troubled Thibodeau was the way Randle was celebrated.
“I wanted to see the movie but … something was wrong,” Thibodeau said. “I do not know [why]. I do not know. I’m tracking what’s going on both ways. [The Nets] is a good team. They played well. But I know Julius is driving that ball pretty hard.
“And I’m pissed.”
Randle was assessed a technical foul with 1:36 remaining in the fourth half after he claimed he had been fouled on a 105-all miss. Kevin Durant (27 points) hit 18 feet later and then sank the technical free throw by a technology known as Randle.
The Knicks teammates stepped forward to help calm Randle during the timeout.
“You saw what happened,” Randle said when asked about the technical foul. “Everybody saw what happened. I don’t need to talk about it. You all saw what happened.”
Randle has repeatedly said that he doesn’t want to focus on running. But he did describe what it was like for him at times when smaller defenders tried to defend him.
“In basketball, usually when the smaller players are defending the bigger players, they run away more,” Randle said. “But some things are a bit more blatant. If you slap a guy, I don’t care who it is, it affects him. Like I said, I don’t want to talk about them. I I want to focus on Keep stopping it, play hard, play with energy and lead my team. I can’t let my technology affect our effectiveness whether we win or lose.”
The Knicks finished the game with 110-all in 17.7 seconds, but James Johnson was fouled while driving with 2.2 seconds left. Johnson made both free throws to help the Nets hold on after taking a 16-point lead.
James Harden led the Nets with 34 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists while taking 9/10 shots from the free-throw line.
“I wanted to see the movie but … there’s a big difference in the free throws, I can tell you that,” Thibodeau said. “So Julius is in control, and he gets two free throws?
“I really don’t care how the game is called. I really don’t. You can call it tight. You can call it loose. But it has to be the same.”
