MIAMI— The game was fumbling away. Then Julius Randle came to the rescue. Randle had committed a turnover on the previous possession, leading to Tyler Herro hitting the go-ahead lay-up for the Heat with under 30 seconds left.
The game was fumbling away. The winning streak was about to end.
Then Julius Randle came to the rescue.
The Knicks All-Star connected on an improbable and acrobatic game-winning 3-pointer with 0.7 seconds left in Friday’s 122-120 victory over the Heat, capping a thrilling game and exquisite performance from the resurgent power forward.
Randle finished with 43 points, including six in the final minute. He’s been great for big chunks of the last three seasons, but Friday represented the best single shot of Randle’s Knicks career.
Maybe even his entire career.
“It’s up there,” he acknowledged.
But the play started as a disaster. Randle had committed a turnover on the previous possession, leading to Tyler Herro hitting the go-ahead lay-up for the Heat with under 30 seconds left. Since Tom Thibodeau had unsuccessfully challenged a play about a minute prior, the Knicks had no timeouts to set up the game-winner.
So the ball was nearly turned over twice before Randle found enough space to rise for the jumper.
