From Marc Berman:
There’s something about his home state of Texas that brings out the very best in Julius Randle.
After ransacking Dallas for 44 points last month, Randle kicked off May with 31 points in 30 minutes in punishing chatty Houston as the Knicks began their six-game Western trip with a 122-97 whitewashing of the awful Rockets.
The victory assured the Knicks (36-28) of a .500 record. They haven’t posted a record of .500 or better since 2012-13. The Knicks also hadn’t won in Houston since 2015-16, but this is a sorry edition of the Rockets who fell to 16-49, 5-35 in their last 40, and are missing starting point guard John Wall.
Randle made 13 of 22 shots — 4 of 9 from 3-point land — as his All-NBA campaign raged on with a 15-point third quarter. RJ Barrett gave him complementary help, scoring 21 points and Derrick Rose was a demon off the bench with 24 points.
We knew the Knicks “needed” this one and we knew that the Knicks should win this one and it is really nice that we are at the point that games like these are pretty much gimmes, right? Especially after Houston got their asses kicked just last night.
It is always important to kick the ass of the shitty teams. It’s a sign of a well-coached team that the Knicks never take their feet off of the necks of shitty teams.