DETROIT — For all those recent darts aimed his way, nobody talks about the terrific durability Julius Randle has shown as a Knick in an era of load management.
Randle missed just one game last season with a sore knee. He missed two this year because of COVID-19. He missed two games in his first season as Knick when his grandmother died in Dallas.
So when Randle chose to rest his sore quad for three straight games, you know he felt he was hurting the team. After a bad performance last Sunday versus Utah, he shut it down. Head coach Tom Thibodeau admitted after that game Randle looked “a step behind.’’
“I missed five games in three years — two of it was my grandmother’s passing and two was COVID,’’ Randle said. “When it comes to actual injury, I’ve missed one game in three years. It lets you know I’d rather play through pain. But for this one, I had to force myself to sit down and take the time to get myself right.’’
Randle returned Sunday against the Pistons and huffed and puffed his way to 20 points, five assists and seven rebounds in 31:18. He was seen holding his side at a couple of junctures.
“The only thing that didn’t feel good was my conditioning,’’ Randle said. “Other than that I felt good. I was little winded a couple of times. That’s why I’d rather play through pain than take time off, then trying to get back.’’
There’s been moments during the season Randle was on the bench rubbing his knee area.
“It’s been on and off,’’ Randle said. “There were points of the season it was bothering me, points of the season it wasn’t. But over the last couple of weeks, it got to the point I had to take a step back and be forced to chill out and get myself right.
“It gradually got worse over time but when I feel I can’t be myself out there on the court and do things I naturally don’t have to think about then I feel I’m hurting the team more than helping. I had to get myself healthy.’’
With Chicago at the Garden on Monday, Randle didn’t give a guarantee. “Right now I feel great,’’ Randle said. “Wake up in the morning and see how I feel and go from there.’’
Mitchell Robinson had five blocks in a potential audition for the Pistons, who talked to the Knicks at the trade deadline about him. Thibodeau raved about his “rim protection’’ as Robinson was put back into the starting lineup over Jericho Sims after coming off the bench in Miami. Robinson had a quiet offensive line — with zero points into the fourth quarter. He wound up with four points and nine rebounds. According to an NBA source, the Pistons will go after Robinson as a free agent unless they fill the center position in a draft that features Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren. … Quentin Grimes sat out with a sore right knee — the same one that was dislocated on Feb. 25.
