Before Friday’s showdown between the Knicks and Mavericks, Rick Carlisle had this to say about Dallas native and Knicks All-Star Julius Randle.
“Randle’s an All-Star,” Carlisle said. “He loves coming back home and playing here.”
Boy, was Carlisle right about Randle on Friday night.
Randle had a season-high-tying 44 points (16-29 FG, 6-11 3FG), added 10 rebounds and seven assists as the Knicks(30-27) defeated the Mavericks(30-25) 117-109 at American Airlines Center.
The Knicks have won five straight, which is their longest winning streak in seven seasons.
Randle became the first Knick with 40-plus points, 10-plus rebounds, and five-plus assists in a game since Bernard King in 1985.
“I always love playing at home in front of my friends, in front of my family,” Randle said after the game. “I never take those moments for granted.”
R.J. Barrett chipped in with 24 points for New York. Former Knick Kristaps Porzingis had 23 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas and Luka Doncic had 22 points to go with eight rebounds and a career-high-tying 19 assists, but this night was about Randle.
“He(Randle) got going early tonight,” Carlis said after the game. “I think he may have hit one shot early, and then we were able to keep him at bay… When his shot-making is like it was tonight, it’s just very, very difficult.”
Dorian Finney-Smith, who spent time defending Randle and finished with 13 points, added: “Obviously, he has stepped his game up. He has been working, and you are seeing it. He is like a totally different player out there. Right before halftime, he hit me with a tough step-back 3. That is not a shot that he was shooting a couple of years ago, but he has all that.”
In their last meeting at Madison Square Garden back in March, where Dallas won 99-86. The Mavericks held the Knicks to 36% from the field, including 31% from downtown, and held Randle to 14 points(5-20 from the field). However, on Friday night, the Knicks shot 51% from the field, including 50% from three-point range.
“We needed to do more to make it harder on their whole team,’ Carlisle said. “They shot over 51%, and they shot 50% from three. We just didn’t take much of anything away.”
Dallas did not defend well enough to win on Friday night, and much credit goes to the play of Randle and the Knicks, but if the Mavericks want to move up in the standings and be the team that they want to be, they have to take advantage of home(13-13).
Dallas continues their five-game homestand on Sunday night against the Sacramento Kings.
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