New York Knicks: Is Julius Randle ready to leave his mark on the series?

Which Julius Randle will we see in Games 3 and 4 as the New York Knicks hit the road?

After not having won an NBA playoff game in nearly a decade, it wasn’t surprising to see the celebration that ensued shortly after the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series earlier this week.

However, the job is still unfinished. Despite the celebration, all the Knicks did was successfully earned a split during the first two games on their homecourt. In fact, though I don’t wanna be this person, you can make an argument that the first two games have actually been a disappointment for New York.

The celebrations were cute but this is not a franchise that celebrates playoff wins. They have bigger goals set in front of them and if they’re going to do so it begins with knocking off the Hawks in their seven-game series. Not simply winning one game.

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And as the series shifts to Atlanta, the Knicks have their work cut out for them. If it wasn’t for a fourth-quarter comeback in Game 2, the Knicks would be sitting in a bleak 2-0 series hole heading on the road.

Nevertheless, the comeback did happen, and this series has a very much different feel to it. Question is, can the Knicks take advantage of the momentum that was built during that comeback in Game 2?

The New York Knicks need Julius Randle to wake up to win the series

If New York is going to do so and win this series, or at the very least win one in Atlanta to win back homecourt advantage, they’re going to need Julius Randle to emerge as a force in their series. And the good news is that we perhaps saw the beginning of that in the second half of Game 2.

In Game 1, Randle finished with 15 points on 6-23 shooting from the field. It appears that Randle was well on his way to another disappointing showing in Game 2 as well. During the first half of that game, Randle had two points on 0-6 shooting from the field.

However, during the second half, he showed some signs of promise. In the second half alone, Randle finished with 13 points on 5-10 shooting as he helped lead the Knicks to a Game 2 comeback win.

The question for the Knicks moving forward is whether or not Randle will be able to pick up where he left off during the second half of Game 2? Has Randle found something in his game or will he resort back to the lost player that he was in Game 1 and during the first half of Game 2?

During the regular season, Randle had his way with the Hawks. He averaged 30-plus points per game in New York’s three victories over Atlanta. Thus far in this series, we haven’t seen that dominant offensive player.

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If the Knicks are going to send a message on the road, they’re going to need Randle to emerge as an offensive force in Game 3. Question is, which Randle will we see on the road?

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