The Knicks arrived in Cleveland with a pack of injured players. But Julius Randle is healthy — boy, is he ever.
In his fourth straight powerful performance, Randle posted a 28-point triple-double. And afterward, he was even happy as a clam on Zoom.
The 6-foot-9 southpaw scored 28 points and collected 12 rebounds with his Knicks-high 11 assists as the club won its second straight in taking out the previously unbeaten Cavaliers, 95-86, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse on Tuesday.
Randle, finally reflecting on this massive turnaround of a season, admitted he lost weight and returned with plenty to prove after an uneven first season as a Knick.
“They challenged me going into the offseason to come back a better player,’’ Randle said. “I’m going to put that pressure on myself as well to challenge myself and get better every year. Last year was a great learning experience for me. But this year I’m coming back a better player and came back in great shape. And that’s just part of the culture we’re building. We’re competing and not backing down from anybody.’’
As Tom Thibodeau kept his rotation to eight men, the head coach’s defensive-minded team moved to 2-2 in shaking off 26 turnovers before a limited, socially distanced crowd of 300 fans.
Randle never let up after a sensational first quarter. He chased down a loose ball in the left corner and drilled the clinching 3-pointer with 5:40 left to stifle the Cavaliers’ comeback attempt. The basket lifted the Knicks into a 10-point lead.
On the next possession, Randle picked up his triple-double when he fed point guard Elfrid Payton for a 3-pointer.
“I feel like he’s more focused now,’’ said Knicks starting center Mitchell Robinson, who posted nine points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. “When he’s coming in, he’s coming strong. Especially in the summertime, all the hours he done put in, it’s just paying off. He’s going out there and doing his thing.’’
Randle now has seven career triple-doubles, but this was his first as a Knick, failing to notch one in his inaugural year at the Garden. On the downside, Randle was close to a quadruple-double as he committed nine turnovers in his 44 minutes.
Randle has seemed grumpy and curt on previous Zoom interviews — mostly because he’s felt disrespected by the media who had labeled him a trade chip and a disappointing $60 million investment. Tuesday, he was more like the expansive Randle of last season.
“I just tried to take what the defense gave me, make the right plays,’’ Randle said. “My teammates did a good job of being in position when the defense collapsed. Made it easy for me to kick out. When they didn’t collapse I just tried to make sure to get to my spot to score. I got to cut down on my turnovers obviously.’’
Randle staged a ridiculous first quarter in leading the Knicks — down five players, including Alec Burks, Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley — to a 29-15 lead. He made all five of his shots, including two 3-pointers. He wound up with 14 first-quarter points, six rebounds and five assists. On the night, Randle made all four of his 3-pointers.
On one sequence, Randle snatched a rebound, sprinted up-court past the Cavaliers defense and fed Payton for a layup. He rarely showed that lightning speed last season. He’s lighter on his feet — and altogether lighter despite the club still listing him at 250 pounds.
“I ran pretty much every day,’’ Randle said. “That was just a challenge for me to get in extreme condition. I dropped a little bit of weight, but the biggest thing was just pushing myself just to run every day and just challenging myself in that way.”
Thibodeau saw Randle’s conditioning in the summer before OTAs began — and then in September when the team had those Delete 8 workouts.
It’s truly been an All-Star start.
“I think the first part is he came into camp in great shape,’’ Thibodeau said. “I saw what type of shape he was in, so I knew he was highly motivated. So I think that’s a big advantage for him. I also think he has a pretty good understanding of his teammates and what their strengths are. And he’s playing unselfishly.’’
Payton, meanwhile, put together his second straight solid outing. He scored 10 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Payton also had seven assists and eight rebounds after his stunning performance against Milwaukee on Sunday.
Reggie Bullock, who has started all season at shooting guard, banged in five 3-pointers — the Knicks made 14 of 25 attempts — and finished with 17 points. Cleveland, which fell to 3-1, was led by Andre Drummond’s six blocks, 17 rebounds and 18 points.
In getting off to a 3-0 start, the Cavaliers were the best 3-point shooting team in the league. Somehow they missed their first 10 3-pointers Tuesday and finished 7 of 32.
“I liked our energy,’’ Thibodeau said of the defense. “It’s still not where it needs to be. I thought they missed some wide-open ones, too. But even when we’re making mistakes, we’re flying around, we’re making the attempt to get out there and challenge shots and it makes a difference.’’
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