Julius Randle bounces back as Knicks hold off Lakers to end skid

LOS ANGELES — Julius Randle came back red-hot one day after losing his cool. 

After his second-half meltdown proved costly in Saturday’s loss to the Clippers, Randle returned to Crypto.com Arena and scored 25 of his 33 points in the first half to help the Knicks end their three-game slide with a 112-108 victory Sunday night over the Lakers. 

“Obviously, after shooting the ball the way I did [Saturday], I wanted to be a little bit more in attack mode, be aggressive going to the basket,” Randle said. “Games like that happen. I work on my craft and know what I put into my craft. 

“I’m not gonna second-guess myself just because I had a bad game. Come back next game, be better.” 

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RJ Barrett contributed 30 points and Immanuel Quickley added 15 for the Knicks (40-30), who were without starting point guard Jalen Brunson for the fourth time in five games with a bruised left foot.

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Brunson was wearing a walking boot on the bench, putting his availability for Tuesday’s road trip finale against the Trail Blazers in doubt. 

D’Angelo Russell scored 33 points and Anthony Davis had 17 for the Lakers, who played their seventh straight game without LeBron James (right foot). 

With Brunson also out of the lineup Saturday against the Clippers, Randle had earned a game-turning technical foul at the end of the third quarter.

He had to be restrained by coach Tom Thibodeau before also getting into shouting matches with teammates and team security near the Knicks’ bench. 

Randle, who finished Sunday’s game 11 of 24 from the field, had missed 19 of 24 field-goal attempts against the Clippers to extend his slump to 18-for-63 from the floor (28.6 percent) and 7-for-31 from 3-point range (22.6 percent) during the team’s three-game losing skid following nine consecutive victories. 

“Someone can miss shots. That’s part of the game. Don’t let it take away from anything else,” Thibodeau said. “Hey, look, we’re all human. Anyone can have a bad day. If you have a bad day, the next day, you got to bounce back and have a great day. I thought he did that and I thought it was great.” 

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Randle came out cooking against his former team with 18 points in the first quarter, featuring one 3-pointer and two traditional three-point plays on drives to the basket, as the Knicks grabbed a 31-27 lead through 12 minutes. 

Randle, who added seven points in the second for 25 in the first half, now has a franchise record (since 1997-98) with 644 first-quarter points this season, surpassing Carmelo Anthony’s 628 in 2013-14. 

A breakaway dunk from Deuce McBride (eight points) helped the Knicks extend their cushion to eight early in the second.

Another trey by Russell and drives by Davis and Malik Beasley drew the Lakers within one. 

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But Quickley netted nine in the quarter and 13 in the half, and Randle knocked down his second 3-pointer in the closing seconds for a 62-59 advantage at intermission. 

Long-range shots by Rui Hachimura and Dennis Schroder gave the Lakers an 84-80 lead with under two minutes to play in the third.

But a drive by Quentin Grimes and 3-pointer by McBride left the Knicks within one, 86-85, entering the final period. 

Former Laker Josh Hart and McBride buried 3s early in the fourth, and four driving buckets by Barrett gave the Knicks a 99-94 advantage with 8:18 remaining.

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Following a steal by Isaiah Hartenstein (10 rebounds), Barrett then found Obi Toppin for a reverse alley-oop dunk.

Barrett then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side for a 10-point cushion with 5:01 to go. 

Davis’ dunk and Schroder’s drive closed the Lakers’ deficit to 110-108 with 19.1 seconds to play, but Hart coolly sank two free throws with five ticks on the clock for a four-point Knick lead. 

“The bench was phenomenal,” Thibodeau said. “I thought Deuce gave us great minutes. Obi gave us great minutes. Isaiah gave us great minutes. You can’t ask for more than that. And Josh is Josh. Every big play in the fourth, loose-ball, rebounds, hit a big 3 when the game was starting to go the other way. But that’s who he is. 

“But I thought the bench was huge.”