Did Randle All-Star regular season stop coach Thibs from benching Randle a few extra minute to convince Randle his 4-16 shooting has been giving the Hawks a double-digit lead, and Randle could fool the Hawks for a Knicks win by driving to pass the ball, rather than keep shooting for 40 pts, after having 4-16 shooting in the first half.
There was NO reason for the 41-31 Knicks to lose the first Covid-19 sold-out MSG post-season game.
NO REASON?
Especially, having several well Team-Ball winning players in the 10 Man rotation (D.Rose, Burks, Bullocks, Noel, Taj, Barrett, Obi, and Quickley) of Keepers.
The Knicks 2nd-unit bench lineup combine to score 64 pts on 60% fg shooting .. Giving a dynamic performance to get the big-crowd in MSG to cheer and stand-up as proud Knicks fans !!!
Randle running the point like a shoot-first PG throughout the game by taking 24 shots.
Made a lot of Knicks fans upset, because all-star Randle missed 18 shots, and was a weak PF on both sides of the court throughout the game (2 fouls) and going down the stretch ........
Randle did just what the Hawks defense expected, something the Hawks defense had a week-off to practice.
And after having such a poor scoring performance on offense, Randle takes the final shot of the game, down by two pts having point nine (.9) seconds on the clock, Randle not only missed the shot, but he didn't get the shot off in time. When the Knicks have a quick release catch n shoot rookie name Quickley who is the fastest shooter on the roster.