![]() But his offense is the most important aspect of his game for the Knicks, and to see him start to get going in the second half should be a positive sign for New York as they head to Atlanta with the series tied up. Although Randle struggled for a majority of the game, he was still active in other areas on defense and trying to set his teammates up on offense. His big third quarter is what helped turn the tide for the Knicks, who ended up going on a 30-8 run to take the lead heading into the fourth quarter. He knocked down a couple triples in the third quarter, and scored 11 of his 15 points in the third frame of action. Instead of a Knicks guard trying to feed him the ball in the paint, where he was swarmed by double teams, Randle started bringing the ball up himself and creating his own shot. However, at the tail-end of the third quarter and into the fourth, we began to see shades of the Randle who was deserving of winning Most Improved Player this season. It was another inefficient shooting night for Randle, who despite finishing the game with 15 points and 12 boards, went 5 of 16 from the field and 2 of 7 from deep as the Hawks did a good job at containing him once again. It would be a surprise at all to see Thibodeau make a change to the starting lineup for Game 3, especially when you consider Rose's performance and the lack of spark the starting unit has opened both games in this series with. Rose played the entirety of the third quarter, and for good reason given no other Knicks guard showed they could initiate the offense as well as Rose tonight. He was essentially getting anything he wanted on offense: Shots at the rim, 3-pointers, everything. So having someone like Rose, who can create his own shot, in with the starters proved to be a major key in why New York's offense began to come alive after halftime. Similar to how Game 1 went, the Knicks struggled for a majority of the game to get anything going on offense. ![]() Rose's 14 first-half points is what kept the Knicks treading water heading into halftime, and it led coach Tom Thibodeau to start him in the second half in favor of Payton. To contrast, starting point guard Elfrid Payton played just five minutes, and finished the game with one point while going 0 for 2 from the field. From start to finish, he was the best player on the floor for New York, finishing with 26 points, four assists and four rebounds off the bench in nearly 39 minutes of action, the most of any player on the team. The only reason the Knicks were in a position to take control of the game and eventually win it is because of Derrick Rose's performance. ET., but before that game, let's examine three takeaways that led to the Knicks win in Game 2. The series is all knotted up at one game apiece as it now shifts to Atlanta for Game 3 on Friday at 7 p.m. There was an error processing your subscription.
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