The shorthanded Philadelphia 76ers did not give in on Monday night. They were down by 19 at home to the New York Knicks and despite being down guys like Joel Embiid, Tobias Harris, and Matisse Thybulle, they were able to rally and pull to within 89-88 with 5:01 left.
Then, Knicks star Julius Randle ended up putting the team away.
Randle ended up scoring 10 points in the final 3:30 of the game and the Knicks put away the Sixers 103-96 in a tough battle at Wells Fargo Center. Randle ended up finishing with 31 points and 12 rebounds in order to help New York get the win.
“He made that one runner, whatever that thing was, that was just a brutally tough shot,” said coach Doc Rivers. “He’s making catch and shoot 3s, give him credit. He’s a great kid, he’s worked his butt off, changed the narrative on him, so give him all the credit. I’m very happy for him, except for tonight.”
This would have been a game where the Sixers would use a guy like Harris or Thybulle to defend Randle, but in this one, they did not have the size to match up with him down the stretch.
“He made some tough shots,” Rivers added. “We were undersized. I thought a couple of them, we were gonna switch and didn’t, that would’ve put a smaller guy on him which wouldn’t have helped. He knows how to use his body. He’s tough.”
To combat Randle, the Sixers turned to Danny Green. He is a solid defender, but he loses a couple of inches to the Knicks star every time in that matchup. There is not a lot that Philadelphia could have done differently.
“We had Danny Green guarding him for the majority of the game,” laughed Seth Curry. “I hope he had a good matchup for him. He grinded it out, forced some tough shots still, and that’s a guy you just shake his hand. Danny worked hard.”
Julius Randle had 31 points (5-10 3-pt shooting) and 12 rebounds to help lift NYK to road win against undermanned Philly. Randle made big shots late for NYK. PHI cut Knicks’ lead to one w/5 minutes to play; Randle had 10 points in next 3:30 to seal win. NYK is 5-1 on road.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) November 9, 2021
At the end of the day, there is a reason why Randle is an All-Star in this league. On a night where the Sixers were so shorthanded, there was not a lot the team could do. At that point, a team gives him the credit, and they move on.
“He’s a great player,” added Andre Drummond of Randle. “He had somebody who was three of four inches shorter than him, he’s shooting over the top of him, there’s not much you can do. We played him to the best of our ability, and he made shots. He’s an NBA player.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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