Julius Randle hurt the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night and is paving his way to that city on March 7, the scheduled date of the All-Star Game.
Randle posted his Knicks-high 44 points, setting a career-high with seven 3-pointers as the Knicks won their third straight Monday, 123-112, over the Hawks at the fanless Garden.
In continuing his All-Star campaign, Randle racked up his third game of 30 or more points and finished one point shy of his career high (set with New Orleans). Randle made 7 of 13 from 3 and was 14 of 22 overall.
Randle was a career 28 percent 3-point shooter entering the season and admitted he should have been better in his first season as a Knick. He spent the summer driven to not repeat 2019-20 amid trade rumors.
“I kind of felt I let the team down last year,’’ Randle said. “I didn’t have my best performance. A lot of people wrote me off. And it was motivation and fuel. My game is at a level [now] that it hasn’t been at before.’’
As Randle tried to start his oncourt interview with MSG Network, a swarm of his teammates — RJ Barrett, Theo Pinson and Immanuel Quickley — surrounded him and stumped for him as an All-Star. Fan voting ends Tuesday.
“The most important thing is the impact that he’s having on winning and hopefully it’ll be recognized,’’ coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But I know there’s great appreciation by his teammates and his coaches, the organization, certainly our fans, for what he’s bringing to our team.
“[It was] a terrific game. It’s a reflection of all the work he’s put into it. He’s always been terrific off the dribble. He’s always had the back-to-the-basket game. But getting comfortable shooting the 3 has added a lot to his game.’’
Randle’s teammates haven’t stopped supporting his All-Star bid on social media, too, retweeting links to vote for him.
“An amazing feeling,’’ Randle said. “Those guys trust in me and believe in me every night to go out and lead the team, I just try to be the best leader as possible that I can be. Just try to be a guy that they want to follow and trust to lead the team.’’
Randle hit a driving runner with 3:30 left and then his seventh 3-pointer to drive the lead to 112-107 and repel the Hawks’ comeback attempt. Atlanta had trailed by 14 points in the first half but responded and grabbed a six-point lead in the third quarter.
Appearing on “The Michael Kay Show” on ESPN radio before the game, Randle said an All-Star berth would mean “a lot, man. It’s definitely a goal I put down for me to accomplish when I got to the Knicks. It would be an amazing honor and mean a lot to me and my family. But I’m trying to keep the team first.’’
The Knicks moved to 14-15 under Thibodeau and have won five of seven games. After 29 games last season, the Knicks were 7-22.
“[Thibodeau’s] attention to detail is unbelievable,’’ said Randle, who added nine rebounds and five assists. “We go into games so prepared like every game is a playoff game. That’s how good he is. He’s a complete culture-changer for sure. He’s held everyone accountable. We’re all enjoying the process.”
One of the least productive 3-point shooting teams in the NBA, the Knicks banged in a season-high 17 3-pointers. RJ Barrett added 21 points and made two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
The Knicks buried the Hawks in the first quarter, 39-28, but gave it all back — mostly from the free-throw line.
Randle collected 17 points in the first quarter when he went 7 of 8 — 3 of 4 from 3-point range, continuing his outstanding season.
Randle joked that he wasn’t making a shot during his pregame shooting drills with assistant Kenny Payne.
“I got my misses out of the way,’’ he said.
The Knicks were making just 9.8 3s a game entering the game. Randle opened the floodgates.
“He is reading the game,’’ Thibodeau said. “He took 13 3s tonight and I thought they were the right reads. When he got going, people were looking for him. And then when he puts it on the floor and they collapse, he makes good rim reads which was also getting us more high-percentage 3s. It’s his all-around play. And oftentimes what gets overlooked is how unselfish he is. When he’s spraying the ball around, we’re more hard to guard. We scored 121 tonight. When a guy gets going like that, you have to commit more than one defender and that should open up more things for other people.’’
