Will Julius Randle Get Best of Devin Booker in Second Matchup?
By Peter Dewey
The New York Knicks are halfway through their six-game road trip, and only one thing should be on their minds on Friday night: revenge.
Julius Randle will lead his team into Phoenix to take on the Suns, the same team that snapped New York’s nine-game winning streak just 11 days ago at Madison Square Garden. That night, Chris Paul and Devin Booker got the best of Randle and company. Can New York’s newest star rebound on Friday?
Randle’s player prop projection for points in tonight’s game is set for 25.5 with the under (-120) being the favorite to the over (+100). The last time these two teams faced off, we pitted Randle against Booker, and we’re out to do it again.
Booker dropped 33 points in the win over the Knicks last month and his player prop projection for points is set at 26.5 tonight. Unlike Randle, Booker is favored to hit the over (-120) with the under (+100) as the underdog.
As good as Randle’s been this season, he’s coming off arguably his worst performance all year in the Knicks’ blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. Randle was just 5-for-15 and failed to make a 3-pointer for the first time since April 5.
The Knicks are fighting for playoff positioning in the East, and a big game from Randle would go a long way toward getting a win on Friday. He had scored 28 or more points in his first three games following the loss to Phoenix, but Wednesday’s performance screams “proceed with caution” before completely backing Randle tonight.
As for him outscoring Booker, we’re going to lean D-Book’s way in this one. Booker has been on fire over his last seven games, averaging 30.6 points on 53.5 percent shooting from the field in 36.1 minutes of action. Booker has also attempted an average of 22.4 shots in those seven contests and opportunity is key when it comes to him going over on the 26.5-point projection.
Randle may be looking for revenge, but it’s hard to bet against Booker when he’s scored over 30 points six times in the past two weeks.