Knicks' Julius Randle Missing In Action Against the Hawks

It's been said many times that the NBA is a tale of two seasons — there's the regular season, and then there's the playoffs. Perhaps no player has epitomized that more this year than New York Knicks forward Julius Randle. 

In three games against the Atlanta Hawks in the regular season, Randle averaged a robust 37 ppg and shot 58% from the field. Through the first three games of the Knicks playoff series with the Hawks, Randle is definitely "missing" in action, averaging just 14.7 ppg and shooting a miserable 24% from the floor.

Julius Randle vs. the Hawks this year:

Regular Season (3 games):

37.3 PTS / 12.3 REB / 6.6 AST / 58 FG% / 50 3PT%

Playoffs (3 games):

14.7 PPG / 11.7 REB / 3.3 AST / 24.1 FG% / 30 3PT% pic.twitter.com/TllvUuIVVT

— That Houston Sports Fan🚀 (@HakeemThe_Dr34m) May 29, 2021

In fact, he's now the first player in NBA history through the first three games of a playoff series to shoot less than 25% while taking at least 50 shots. Yikes. 

Needless to say, the back pages in NYC were pulling no punches on Randle and the Knicks:

I’m gonna go get the papers, get the papers: back page edition. @nyknicks @J30_RANDLE with the sweep. pic.twitter.com/xMOrEbKGqu

— Robert Shields (@rshields37) May 29, 2021

Add in RJ Barrett's 34% shooting in the series, including a 2-for-9 in Game 3, and those "NY Bricks" and "No Shot" headlines aren't missing by much. 

Now down 2-1 to the Hawks, with Game 4 in Atlanta on Sunday, the Knicks are going to need Randle to get back to his regular-season dominance if they are to have a chance to win this series. 

Photo Credit: POOL PHOTOS-USA TODAY Sports