Will Julius Randle Break Out of Historic Shooting Slump?

It’s a miracle that the New York Knicks aren’t down 3-0 in their first-round series with the Atlanta Hawks, as All-Star Julius Randle has struggled mightily through the first three games of the series.

New York trails 2-1 heading into Sunday afternoon’s Game 4, but the Knicks have a reason to be optimistic, as Randle’s struggles haven’t kept the team out of any games. New York lost by just two points in Game 1 when Randle shot 6-for-23, and the Knicks lost by only 11 on Friday when Randle was a putrid 2-for-15 from the field. 

WynnBET thinks that Randle will finally break his shooting and scoring slump on Sunday, as his projected point total is set for 22.5 points with the over (-120) being favored to the under (-104). Knicks fans would certainly welcome a 23-point performance, but I’m not so sure that Randle gets it done on Sunday. 

The Hawks and head coach Nate McMillan have come up with a fantastic plan to guard Randle, after he averaged 37.3 points per game against them in the regular season. Atlanta has brought a double team nearly every time Randle has touched the ball, and it has forced him into a lot of tough shots.

There have been times where Randle has made the right play, but they have come few and far between in this series.

The Hawks have dared someone other than Randle to beat them, and the Knicks have struggled to find offense with their All-Star struggling. There is no doubt that Tom Thibodeau will try to find a way to get Randle better looks, but the Knicks will have to step up around him as well. 

Randle hasn’t scored more than 15 points in a game this series, and I wouldn’t expect that to change today. If Atlanta keeps running multiple defenders at him, it’s going to be hard for Randle to get enough good looks to light up the scoreboard. 

This is a must-win game for New York, but it will need Randle to contribute in other ways than just scoring the ball to even the series.