Randle inspire Knicks past Nuggets 106-103

Julius Randle scored a season-high 34 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, made 4 steals, 4 assists and pushed the New York Knicks over the Denver Nuggets 106-103 in an epic battle.

The Nuggets had a chance to send the game in OT but Immanuel Quickley defended well against Jamal Murray’s three point attempt making him miss the final shot.

The Knicks trailed 86-96 early in the fourth, the biggest and only double digit lead of the game. Then they went on a 17-2 run to move on top and Cam Reddish‘s layup gave them a 103-98 advantage with 2 minutes left on the clock.

Randle was exceptional especially in crunch time. He had three steals in the last quarter, two of them counting for four points. He made jump-shots, dunks, free throws and was all over the floor pulling the team after him.

“It’s us sticking together, staying together and believing.”

– Julius Randle

Jalen Brunson scored 21 points and dished out seven assists. He scored 8 points in the fourth including a couple of crucial free throws with 10.5 on the clock.

The defense of the Knicks shifted dramatically in the last two games. After they allowed 145 points to the Thunder on Sunday afternoon, they kept the Jazz to 111 buckets the other day, handing them their first home loss of the season. Now they kept the Nuggets to just 103 points.

The Knicks not only that connected back to back Ws on the road against winning teams but they haven’t won a game in Denver since November 2006. And what a win that was!

It is true, the Nuggets played without Nikola Jokic who was out on COVID-19 protocols and Aaron Gordon who was suffering from non-COVID illness. They had Murray, who scored 21 and Hyland who scored the same coming off the bench.

Reddish scored 10 points, RJ Barrett had 11 but another poor shooting going just 4-18 from the field and Derrick Rose led the bench with 13 buckets.

Up-next: The Knicks (8-7) will continue their trip to San Francisco and take on the Warriors (6-9) on Friday night from 10:00 pm.