An ugly injury to Julius Randle’s right shoulder overshadowed the Knicks’ 125-109 win Saturday over the Miami Heat — and cast doubt about the star forward’s future.
Randle crashed to the Madison Square Garden court after his drive to the basket with 4:27 left in the fourth quarter ended with a collision with Miami defender Jaime Jaquez Jr., who tried to draw a charge.
The lefty-shooting Randle immediately grabbed his right shoulder and winced before running into the locker room with a trainer.
Asked afterward how concerned he was about the injury, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau replied, “Very.”
“You’re concerned any time someone gets hurt,” Thibodeau said. “You hope for the best. That’s where we are. But I also feel that if he’s out, [the] next guy [must] get in there and get it done.”
Thibodeau said Randle was still being evaluated following the game, and ESPN reported shortly afterward that the two-time All-Star suffered a dislocated shoulder. An X-ray didn’t reveal much damage, according to the report, which said Randle was set to undergo an MRI.
Randle, 29, did not speak to the media after the game.
“It was an ‘oh s–t’ reaction,” Knicks point guard Jalen Brunson said of seeing Randle get hurt.
“You don’t want to see that from anybody, especially with the way he’s been playing,” Brunson said. “He means a lot to us, so for him to go back there, obviously it’s not ideal. Once we figure out what’s wrong, we’ll go from there.”
Brunson suffered a dislocated shoulder as a member of the Dallas Mavericks in February 2020, which he described Saturday as being “painful.” He underwent surgery for a torn labrum the following month and was rehabbing when the NBA shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brunson did not appear in the Mavericks’ bubble games that July and August.
In June, Randle underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle, which he later attributed a slow start to the season to.
An extended absence for Randle would add another challenge for an embattled Knicks frontcourt that’s been without starting center Mitchell Robinson since a Dec. 8 ankle injury that required surgery and that saw backup Isaiah Hartenstein miss two games with an Achilles issue before returning Saturday.
In Saturday’s win, Randle scored 19 points — including a tie-breaking, buzzer-beating three-pointer to end the third quarter that put the Knicks up for good. The Knicks led 115-98 when Randle got hurt.
Randle is averaging 24.0 points and 9.2 rebounds per game this season.
“We got confidence in everybody,” Hartenstein said. “I think the luxury we have is that we even got starters on the bench. If someone goes out, we have the luxury [that] when a guy goes down, we have guys that can step up. … [Randle is] a big part of what we do, but I have a lot of confidence in our guys.”
Saturday marked the Knicks’ sixth consecutive win, which improved their record to 29-17 and moved them into sole possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 32 points — including 12 in the fourth quarter — and has now recorded at least 30 points in six of the last seven games.
The Knicks improved to 12-2 since their late-December deal with Toronto to add versatile forward OG Anunoby, who scored 19 points on Saturday. Anunoby figures to take on ever more importance should Randle miss significant time.
Much has changed since New York met Miami last spring in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where the eighth-seeded Heat upset the fifth-seeded Knicks in six games during an improbable run to the NBA Finals.
Miami has now lost six games in a row and ranks 27th in the league in team scoring average. Jimmy Butler led the Heat with 28 points on Saturday. The Heat fell to 0-3 since trading with Charlotte for high-scoring guard Terry Rozier, who managed 10 points on 4-of-12 shooting on Saturday.
Next up for the Knicks is a trip to Charlotte to face the Hornets on Monday.
