NBA
Julius Randle spoils James Harden’s debut by ending historic slump
Mat Issa is based in Sterling Heights, Michigan. Yes, he spells his name with one "t." He's obsessed with NBA history, so much so that he's dedicated nearly two years of research to his two mini-series', "Blazing the Trail" and "The Quest for the Best." Right now, Mat goes to law school and writes about the NBA for The Analyst, Forbes, and of course, Basketball Insiders. His work has also been featured in ESPN, SB Nation, FanSided, Basketball News, ONE37pm, and Raptors Republic. Also, he's a lifelong Spartans fan. Go Green!
All posts by Mat IssaUpdated24 Nov 2023
On Monday, James Harden made his debut as a member of the Los Angeles Clippers. Unfortunately, the evening didn’t end the way his team hoped it would, as the Clippers fell to the New York Knicks in Madison Square Garden 111-97. The Knicks were led by their All-NBA forward, Julius Randle, which is a welcome change considering how the start of the season has been going for him.
Breaking A Historic Scoring Slump
Prior to Monday’s win over Los Angeles, Randle had been off to a historically bad scoring start to kick off the 2023-24 season. Through his first six games, Randle was averaging 13.7 PPG on field goal/3-point/free throw splits of 27.1/22.5/61.8. For some context, that field goal percentage (27.1%) is the worst through six games since Woody Sauldsberry shot 26.5% in 1959.
Worst FG% in NBA History through 6 Games in a Season (minimum 90 FG attempts)
26.5% — Woody Sauldsberry (1959)
27.1% — Julius Randle (2023)
29.1% — Joe Fulks (1948)
29.7% — Bob Love (1976)
29.8% — Joe Graboski (1958) pic.twitter.com/nmxmPnvgQt— KnicksMuse (@KnicksMuse) November 4, 2023
No matter how you slice it, Randle was down in the dumps, and he desperately needed a big game. And he did just that against the Clippers, scoring 27 points on 9 of 21 shooting from the floor (42.9%) – improving his overall field goal percentage to 29.9% on the season.
Bounce back game by JULIUS RANDLE after struggling the past few games 💪🏽
🟠27 PTS
🟠42.9% FG
🟠10 REB
🟠3 AST
🟠W vs Clipperspic.twitter.com/wSnlsGeHMt— BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) November 7, 2023
Don’t Need To Hit Shots If You Are Playing With Effort
Before Monday’s game, Jalen Brunson defended his teammate amid his shooting woes by saying that team effort would cure any shooting woes the team is dealing with. To his credit, Randle took that message to heart. Along with his 27 points, he also contributed ten rebounds and three assists. But Randle wasn’t just stuffing the stat sheet. He was making the kind of winning plays that don’t register on the box score.
He doesn't get credit for anything here but Julius Randle absolutely makes this play pic.twitter.com/QQTeD23aTr
— The Strickland (@TheStrickland) November 7, 2023
In the clip above, the Clippers were initially doing a good job at defending the possession. That is, until Randle got the ball in the corner and drove past the venerable Kawhi Leonard. He doesn’t get the assist here, but it is his drive that creates the initial advantage that ultimately leads to Josh Hart finding Brunson for a three.
Randle spent the entire evening making impactful plays that tend to fly under the radar (like cutting for offensive rebounds). In basketball, shooting comes and goes. Effort, though, that is something that you can bring to every single game. Randle will likely have other slumps, but he can mitigate the damage of those stretches by making sure his effort never wavers.
The Knicks now turn to Wednesday, when they host Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. Meanwhile, the Clippers continue their East Coast trip in Brooklyn against the Brooklyn Nets (they also play on Wednesday).
