NBA Top Five Performances, March 20: Julius Randle’s 57-Point Performance Not Enough for the New York Knicks to Defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves

Julius Randle made New York Knicks history despite the loss.

TOP PLAYERS OF THE DAY:

The Minnesota Timberwolves defeated the New York Knicks but Julius Randle’s performance was the talk of the night. 

Randle scored a career-high 57 points, tying the third-highest scoring game in Knicks history. He went 19 of 29 from the field with eight 3-pointers, accounting for more than 40 percent of the Knicks’ offense Monday. His 26-point third quarter was the most in a quarter by a player in franchise history.

Randle had an MVP-level performance but the Knicks could not contain Minnesota’s offense. Taurean Prince had 35 points on 8 of 8 shooting from downtown. Randle’s efforts coming up short was emphasized by Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.

“It’s a shame to waste a performance like that,” Thibodeau said. “You couldn’t ask for anything more but we were careless with the ball. [The Wolves] obviously got great size, and all we had to do was keep making the simple way. But we gotta make better decisions.”

OTHERS:

- Zach Lavine’s 26 points led the Chicago Bulls to an overtime win against the Philadelphia 76ers.

- Jaren Jackson Jr. had a 28-point performance to put the Memphis Grizzlies ahead of the Dallas Mavericks. The Grizzlies have won six of their last seven games, with the only loss being to the Miami Heat.

- Utah Jazz guard Ochai Agbaji’s career-high 27 points fueled an upset victory over the Sacramento Kings without Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Ckarkson.

- The Golden State Warriors ended their road losing streak behind a 30-point performance by Steph Curry against the Houston Rockets.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.