Skip to main content

Julius Randle fined $50K for dustup with Suns' Cam Johnson, 'hurt' about letting Knicks down with his ejection


 

New York Knicks forward Julius Randle struck an apologetic tone at shootaround Sunday morning as his team prepares to take on the Los Angeles Clippers. Randle, who was ejected from New York's tough 115-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday night, said he felt bad about letting his teammates down in a game that was certainly winnable for the Knicks.


"It hurts not to win," Randle said. "I'm more upset I wasn't available for my team down the stretch. That's what hurt me more than anything. I apologize to the guys for it. It hurt I couldn't be there down the stretch."


The altercation occurred with 2:30 left in the third quarter when Randle and Suns forward Cam Johnson got physical as Randle attempted to box out Johnson on a made Evan Fournier 3-point attempt. After the bucket, Randle beelined toward Johnson and chest-bumped him. A referee stepped in between the two players as they were exchanging words, but Randle then shoved the official's hand out of the way and forcibly pushed Johnson. Players from both teams eventually stepped in between both players, and Randle was immediately ejected from the game for initiating and escalating the situation. 


Up to that point, Randle had 25 points and was dominating a Suns roster that was without both Chris Paul and Devin Booker. The Knicks were also up 86-76 on the Suns, but Randle's ejection swung the game in Phoenix's favor. Johnson ended up hitting the game-winning shot to lift the Suns over the Knicks, handing New York its seventh straight loss. The league announced Sunday afternoon that Randle has been fined $50,000 for "shoving Johnson, making contact with a referee and for his "noncompliance with an NBA investigation." 


"I was a little bit surprised," Randle said of the ejection. "But it's part of the game. I usually thought I'd get one [technical] and it would be over with. I didn't see the double tech coming. But it's still my fault."


Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau also agreed that Randle let his temper get the best of him, but didn't necessarily agree with the double technicals that led to his ejection.


"It's an emotional game," Thibodeau said. "There's going to be exchanges. You have to be careful not to cross over that line. Everyone understands that. It was unfortunate. I thought it was borderline to be honest with you. You can't put it in an official's hands to make a decision like that. We can learn from that." 


It's just the latest tough loss for a Knicks team that hasn't lived up to the preseason expectations many had for them. After making it to the playoffs a season ago as a No. 4 seed in the East, the Knicks are currently staring down an abysmal 25-38 record, and sit 12th in the Eastern Conference standings. If the playoffs started today, not only would New York not be in the playoffs, but it wouldn't even make the cut for the play-in tournament with six games separating them and the 10th-place Atlanta Hawks. 


With just 19 games remaining in the regular season, the Knicks have a significant amount of work to do if they want to make the play-in tournament. If New York stands a chance at getting there, it'll need more from Randle, who can't afford to get ejected from games at critical junctures.



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bill Russell Once Explained Why He Didn't Bother With Celtics Fans: "When I Was A Star, The Fans Called Us The 'Boston Globetrotters' Because The Celtics Had Black Players."

  While the NBA is a beacon for freedom and tolerance in America, things didn't start off that way. In a place like Boston, during the 50s and 60s, racial tension was a pretty serious problem, and superstar big man Bill Russell had to deal with it on a game-to-game basis. Today, it can be hard for us to imagine just how difficult being a black basketball player really was back then. Fortunately, we have some clips: "The number one paper was the Boston Herald and they didn't like the idea of an NBA team having black players. Out there, the star was Bob Cousy. No matter what I did, Cousy was the star. I remember I had a game where I had 25 points, 25 rebounds, 10 blocks, and the Boston Herald said I was lucky to play with Cousy." Unfortunately, the media didn't give Russell his respect back then. Despite being the best player on the court, and on his team, Cousy and others always got the spotlight. Even the fans weren't very accepting of Bill: "I didn't...
Post a Comment
Read more

From Deep: At long last, Nikola Jokic's Nuggets can envision getting to the top of the mountain

  Jamal Murray tore his ACL on April 12, 2021. Leading up to that night, he'd been playing at an All-NBA level for two months: In a 25-game stretch, Murray averaged 24.1 points on .509/.459/.935 shooting splits, 4.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists. He was even more efficient than he was in the bubble playoffs, and his defense had improved, too. Murray only got to play with Aaron Gordon, the Denver Nuggets' big trade-deadline addition, for five games. They won them all except the one in which Murray got injured. In 110 minutes, their new starting five scored slightly more efficiently than any iteration of the Kevin Durant-era death lineup in Golden State and defended like a top-five team. Two Nikola Jokic MVP awards later, Murray is back. So is Michael Porter Jr., who signed a five-year extension about a year ago and needed back surgery nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nuggets remember how easily everything slid into place with Gordon in the mix. Newcomer Kentavious Caldwell-Pop...
Post a Comment
Read more

Sixers' James Harden backs teammate Joel Embiid for MVP: 'He deserves it, man'

  James Harden has been a member of the Philadelphia 76ers for less than two months, but that's been more than enough time for him to appreciate the brilliance of Joel Embiid. The duo is expected to help the Sixers compete for a championship, but Harden believes another trophy should be on its way to Philly this year.  In an interview with Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Harden backed Embiid for MVP, saying "he deserves it, man." "I've only been here for a few weeks, but I already see his mindset," Harden said. "He wants to win. Some guys just want numbers, but he has both. He has the mentality of winning, and he scores the ball at a high level. I think he's prepared himself, especially coming off last year, for this year to be one of his best years." This has indeed been one of Embiid's best years. He's averaging a career-high 29.8 points, 11.3 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 35.8 percent f...
Post a Comment
Read more