The New York Knicks have designs to be a better and more active 3-point shooting team.
Julius Randall shows them how to do it on a Monday night.
Randall scored 31 points with a career-high tying eight of New York’s season-high 19 3-pointers, and the Knicks scored a 120-107 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
“I think part of it is playing free, not second guessing, just relying on yourself,” Randley said.
Jalen Brunson pitched in 23 points and eight assists, RJ Barrett had 22 points and Obie Toppin scored 15 points off the bench for the Knicks (5-5), who took a massive 27-point lead in the second quarter. Barrett interrupted a postgame interview with Randall while pretending to be a TV reporter because he joked that “Steph Curry” was actually the middle name of the eight-year veteran.
“They shot them tonight. They were all beautiful. That was big time for us,” Brunson said.
Karl-Anthony Towns scored 25 points on 9-for-12 shooting with 13 rebounds and seven assists with the Timberwolves (5-6), who suffered a double-digit deficit in the final 35-plus minutes of the game. Anthony Edwards added 16 points and nine rebounds.
“We just play soft, man. Like, every bump, we’re flying everywhere, including ourselves,” Edwards said. “Teams are just coming, ‘We’re going to take their heart,’ and it goes on. Is. We’re down to 20 in every game! We have to find out.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch gave some of his reserve some extended time in search of a spark, and a layoff by Austin Rivers took the lead 105–91 with a 9:32. But Randall hit a step-back 3-pointer to make it 108-92 just seconds after he re-entered for the final round.
“If we play with the pace and we share the ball, we’re going to score a lot of points,” said Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
With center Rudy Gobert in COVID-19 health and safety protocols and out for the second straight game, Wolves scored a pair of 38-point quarters to end the first half in a huge hole at 76-52 after hearing a heavy boo left. home crowd.
Gobert’s first absence saw the Timberwolves end a three-game losing streak on Saturday by beating Houston with 61% shooting from the floor, but none of that ball moved forward. Didn’t even make an active defense.
“We’re not making it difficult for the other team, I think so,” Edwards said. “They’re just coming down the court, getting into their sets.”
The Knicks, who played their second game without injured center Mitchell Robinson, performed just fine on defense without their primary rim defender. He also tightened on the periphery, after allowing a franchise-record 27 3-pointers in Saturday’s 133-118 loss to Boston.
Orange (and Blue) Julius
Randall was dismissed for 5 for 7 from 3-point range in the first quarter. The Knicks’ 10 for 19 from deep, according to Sportradar makes their most in the opening period since such data were introduced in 1996. Their franchise high for any quarter was 3-pointers in the second quarter against the Celtics on April 11. , 2012, per Sportradar.
“Our point is not to hesitate,” Brunson said. “Just go out there and play.”
sims start
The Knicks started Jericho Sims in the center when 7-footer Isaiah Hartenstein took the first replacement assignment for Robinson against the Celtics on Saturday. Sims is a native of Minneapolis, a product of Cristo Rey High School, less than 3 miles from Target Center.
The 6-foot-10 Sims, who had four points, four rebounds and five fouls in 17 minutes, was a 2021 second-round draft pick from Texas. His parents met Thibodeau in the hallway after the game as the coach said. about his son.
Tip-ins
The reserves were 10 for 10 on a free throw for the Knicks, who had scored 23 for 25 as a team from the foul line. … Barrett and Toppin each scored three 3-pointers.
next
Knicks: Go to the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday.
