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The Knicks fought to the buzzer against the behemoth Nets. And after the buzzer.
All-Star Julius Randle had to be barred on several occasions from attacking referee Scott Foster after the Knicks’ 117-112 loss to the Nets on Monday at Barclays Center.
Randle, who had been called up for a travel violation in the dying seconds, calmed down 40 minutes after the game.
“It was a conversation – you better not comment on the situation,” Randle said. “There was a lot of frustration behind it for both sides. I’ll let that be a thing of the past and move on to the next game. ”
Asked about his fierce reaction to the buzzer, Randle said, “I was frustrated. We fought so hard to come back and win the game. I was just frustrated. ”
It was a game the Knicks trailed by 18 points in the first half, and they brought it down to a final possession after Tom Thibodeau won a challenge on a controversial steal from Alec Burks.
But the Knicks coach was running out of challenges in the end game that Randle was called to travel in – an old-school back-and-forth offense rarely seen.
Knicks senior vice president William Wesley needed to get Randle off the field that his star was so upset, but probably not in time to keep the NBA from punishing the show.
Randle ran into the Nets’ Jeff Green as he made his way to the umpires, but at least Wesley may have saved an old Brooklyn street fight in an arena on Flatbush Avenue. Knicks president Leon Rose was also on the pitch in an attempt to make peace.
After Thibodeau won the challenge with seven seconds left, the Knicks controlled the point after a jump ball and quickly called the time out.
Randle got the ball on the right wing over the 3 point line. He came up for the potential equalizer and Kyrie Irving got his hands on the ball. Randle came down without shooting and immediately dropped the ball to dribble.
But it was too late. Foster called the trip as Randle appeared to land with possession. He finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds and six assists.
Foster told a pool reporter he stuck to his call that Irving touched the ball but didn’t dislodge it, and Randle fell to his feet with possession. It is the rule.
“It’s an emotional game, he calmed down right away,” said Thibodeau. “It was a tough game for both teams. Sometimes it’s okay with whistles, sometimes not. I thought Julius had played a great game. He played the 5, was changing. It didn’t turn out in our direction at the end.
Irving said he was trying to foul Randle before he got on.
“I was either going to foul early, but I saw him in line for a jump shot,” Irving said. “I felt I could get my hands on it. Scott called the trip. I thought Julius made a good play after putting it down. I was going to foul him after that just to get him to the free throw line. This is how it happened.
Maybe Randle got an education on the rule after the game because he seemed contrite.
“I just think it’s best to just walk away and not comment on what I’m thinking and what the official thought,” said Randle.
In the previous game, the referees overturned an appeal on a Burks steal that was originally declared a foul on RJ Barrett after passing Nets’ Joe Harris in the backcourt, trailing by three.
Thibodeau would have challenged Randle’s game, he said, if he was left with a challenge.
“That’s what they said they saw, I didn’t see it that way,” said Thibodeau, whose club fell to 20-20 and faces the Sixers on Tuesday. “Just like the other cheek in the corner, I didn’t see it that way either. ”
The Nets built an 18-point lead in the first half, but the Knicks neither backed down nor left and were within five points for much of the final four minutes.
And then Randle was ready for more.
– Additional reporting by Brian Lewis
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