Julius Randle’s playoff shooting has been historically awful

Julius Randle’s poor shooting is a big reason why the New York Knicks trail the Atlanta Hawks.

Down 2-1 in their best-of-seven series, the New York Knicks have not gotten the type of offensive production they have needed out of their best player Julius Randle against the Atlanta Hawks.

Atlanta took Game 3 at State Farm Arena on Friday night in an effortless 11-point victory for the Hawks. Though New York got a strong Game 2 victory over Atlanta Wednesday, the Knicks dropped the series opener at home on Sunday. All the while, Randle has been historically awful from the field. He is making 24.1 percent of his field goals on 13-of-54 shooting in Games 1-3.

Per ESPN Stats & Info, this is the worst shooting percentage for a player in the shot-clock era with at least 50 field goals attempted. The NBA‘s Most Improved Player for 2020-21 needs to improve very quickly from the field, starting in Game 4.

New York Knicks forward Julius Randle has been shooting terrible this series

Frankly, this has been the biggest difference in this best-of-seven series. While Atlanta is getting all sorts of offensive production out of its best player in point guard Trae Young, New York has had to deal with the consequences of one poor shooting night from Randle after another. The defensive-minded Knicks under head coach Tom Thibodeau do not have a second gear offensively.

Game 4 in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon is a must-win for the Knicks. If they cannot take back home-court advantage ahead of Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Atlanta may have all the momentum to complete the gentleman’s sweep in front of the Madison Square Garden faithful. It has been a great year for the Knicks, but an early playoff exit would fall on Randle’s offensive shortcomings.

If the Knicks want any chance of advancing now, Randle has to play like the Most Improved Player.