On a night the Knicks needed Julius Randle to be a Garden star against the mighty Jazz, he laid an egg while Donovan Mitchell shined.
The Knicks blew a big opportunity to make March more interesting in a 108-93 loss Sunday to the Jazz as Randle stunk out the Garden and heard well-deserved late boos.Donovan Mitchell finished with a game-high 36 points.Randle finished 6 of 22 from the field for 13 points and in the final seconds got into a skirmish with Rudy Gobert, pushing him while the French center tried to calm the disgruntled Knick down.
No wonder Randle was frustrated as he got his shot blocked seemingly all night by Jazz centers Gobert and Hassan Whiteside. Down the stretch when the Knicks got within reach, Randle blew an easy layup at 95-89, then lost the ball dribbling in traffic with 3:40 left after which he heard it from the crowd.
In turn, Mitchell, the Westchester product and Leon Rose’s former client at CAA, pounded the Knicks with 36 points, making 7 of 12 3-pointers and throwing down a vicious lefty jam with 5:50 left and the Knicks rallying.