Basketball without Julius Randle looked awful on the Knicks.
Tom Thibodeau’s squad closed out 2021 with a blowout defeat Thursday to the Thunder, 95-80, at the Paycom Center, misfiring like the players started their New Year’s Eve toasts before tipoff.
The Knicks (17-19), who snapped a three-game winning streak, missed 33 3-pointers but kept chucking without their halfcourt playmakers (Kemba Walker and Derrick Rose were also out). The Bockers’ 80 points was their lowest total since 2018.
It was the first game without Randle, who entered COVID-19 protocols Thursday and will also miss, at minimum, Sunday’s game in Toronto. His absence created an opportunity for Obi Toppin, who started the first game of his career but did little with his 26 minutes (five points, 1-for-4 shooting, seven rebounds).
Randle has been something of an Ironman since last season, when he led the league in minutes and played in every game except one. In other words, Friday was a rare 2021 moment without Randle, who dominates the ball and was struggling before testing positive for COVID-19.
Aside from RJ Barrett (26 points, 10-for-20 shooting), the Knicks couldn’t generate offense against the Thunder. They shot under 20% from beyond the arc and under 38% overall. Toppin, Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes combined to shoot 3 for 18 from the field. They never led after the first quarter.
The Knicks were also missing Walker, who was a late scratch with a sore knee. The point guard had logged heavy minutes — and even played both sets of a back-to-back this week — so it wasn’t a good sign that his arthritic knee required a rest.
Rookie Miles McBride replaced Walker in the lineup for his first career start, but joined his teammates in inefficient offense.
The Thunder (13-22) has the league’s youngest roster and were missing their head coach, Mark Daigneault, to COVID-19 protocols.
Still, the home team buried 18 treys and had the best player on the court, Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, who scored 23 points. The Knicks had a chance to draft Alexander in 2018 but chose his Kentucky teammate, Kevin Knox, two spots earlier. Knox was cut from Thibodeau’s rotation but played 15 minutes Friday because of Randle’s absence. He scored seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.
