Julius Randle was just so hard for the Washington Wizards to handle in this one, as the standout forward went off for 24 points and 18 rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 109-91 road win.
The Knicks had a ton of success inside, outscoring the Wizards 58-42 inside the paint and outrebounded them 65-46. Russell Westbrook, who finished with 23 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, was the only Wizard to make a significant scoring contribution in the paint, as he had 18 of those points.
Before exiting the game with a fractured right hand, Mitchell Robinson was making his presence felt, as the 22-year-old center left the game with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
“It definitely will be tough without him,” Randle said. “He brings so much to the game, especially on the defensive end with his rebounding.”
In the second game of his second stint with the Knicks, Derrick Rose put up a solid all-around performance, as the former MVP had 14 points, six assists and four steals.
Washington wasn’t able to buy a basket in this game whatsoever, shooting just 34-of-89 from the field.
“We’re not shooting it great, and that happens, but we cannot let that affect the defensive end,” Garrison Mathews said. “It’s a want-to. It’s how hard you want to do it.”
Mathews is absolutely right. Poor shooting performances are bound to happen, but showing effort on the defensive end is definitely something you can control. Because of the lack of effort by the Wizards on the defensive side of the ball, the Knicks were able to gobble up 15 offensive rebounds and end up with 24 second-chance points.
For as badly as the Wizards were outplayed by the Knicks in this one, this was actually a two-possession game in the final two minutes of the third quarter until Randle and Rose combined for nine points to pace a 14-0 run that helped New York build a 20-point lead with less than a minute into the fourth quarter.
That run effectively took the wind out of the sails for Washington, as New York built a lead that went to as many as 25 points that ultimately sent Washington to its fourth loss in five games.
Despite how badly everything is looking for the Wizards on paper and on the court, their former MVP guard is not ready to quit on the season despite how frustrated he may feel.
“I’ve tried multiple different ways, but it’s obviously not working, so I gotta try something else, figure it out,” Westbrook said. “One thing I’m not gonna do is give up or give into the record or anything else that’s going on. Keep fighting.”
It’s hard not to sympathize with Westbrook here, especially when you consider that the Wizards have had a weird season between missing two weeks of play due to COVID-19 and not having everyone at full health the entire year including Westbrook, but sooner rather than later, Westbrook and the Wizards are going to have to figure things out and put together a winning streak to get themselves back into the playoff picture.
Right now, the Wizards are only four games out of the eighth seed and a spot for the play-in tournament, so there is plenty of time for them to make up ground, especially when you consider the fact that they still have games to make up.
While Westbrook seemed dejected after the game, and rightfully so, at least we were able to see a light-sided version of him in this game.
With no music playing or any fans in the stands, it’s good to see Westbrook creating his own energy out there!
