Julius Randle should find out shortly before the fan-attended game at the Garden on Tuesday whether he will play an extra game this season among the NBA’s elite.
The league will announce its All-Star reserves on Tuesday at 7 pm TNT, and Randall will remain in consideration – but there is no lock to be one of the seven players added from the Eastern Conference.
It would be the career’s first career All-Star designation for Randall, in his second season of three years, a $ 62.1 million deal with the Knicks.
The 26-year-old power forward – and described by player Tom Thibodo as the “engine” of the Knicks on Sunday – is certainly a worthy candidate.
Randall Posted a career best In points (23.2), rebounds (11.0), assits (5.5) and minutes (36.8) the Nucks begin entering Tuesday’s home game against Golden State through 15-16. He is also shooting 41.0 percent from 3-point range, a significant improvement from the 29.5 percent posted from long range in his first six NBA seasons.
Other players with an average of at least 23-11-5 this season are Milwaukee’s Giannis Entetoconampo and Denver’s Nikola Jokic.
However, those impressive numbers – and the Knicks’ vast improvement – may still not be enough to spot Randall in the poll conducted by the conference head coaches.
The Nets’ James Harden and Boston’s Jaylen Brown will certainly be added to the backcourt, with Ben Simmons also likely to head to conference head Philadelphia as the second All-Star. Celtics forward Jason Tatum also figures to NAB one of the reserve frontcourt spots.
The 12-member team has just three openings, competing with Randall for Indiana’s Domantas Sabonis, Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton, Miami’s Bam Adebayo, Philadelphia’s Tobaro Harris, Orlando’s Nikola Visevich, Charlotte Gordon Hayward and Detroit’s Jaron Granted . Chicago guard Zach LaVine, Atlanta’s Trey Young and Miami’s Jimmy Butler.
If he is not selected initially, Randall can be added as a replacement if a selected player is ruled out due to injury or concerns of COVID-19.
The starting unit for East is Antetoconpo, Kevin Durant, and in the frontcourt with Joel Embiid, guards Kerry Irving and Bradley Beal. Coaches were not allowed to vote for their own players.
The Knicks announced on Monday that limited tickets to the March 4 home game against Detroit had been made available for public sale. Tickets were first open to season-ticket holders, followed by the general public at $ 50, at nyknicks.com.
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