Knicks’ Julius Randle Hyped as ‘Star’ by NBA Twitter After Dropping 46 vs. Wizards

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Well, Julius Randle is looking primed for the Knicks’ playoff push.

New York’s All-Star power forward came out the break on fire with a 46-point performance in a 115-109 win over the Washington Wizards. With the win the Knicks improve 34-27 and are closing the gap even more on the fifth-seeded Brooklyn Nets.

New York is now on a four-game win streak.

Randle, coming off his second All-Star Game appearance, was giving Washington the business all night long at Capital One Arena. His 46 came on an efficient 16-of-29 shooting from the field, including 50 percent from three-point range.

His performance set NBA and Knicks’ twitter on fire.

Randle’s shooting from deep was timely, especially after a tough performance in the three-point contest during All-Star weekend.

He struggled mightily, air-balling a shot and finishing with the contest with just 13 points, good for second to last.

It was a tight matchup between the two teams throughout the night as New York seemingly needed every single one of Randle’s points to come away with the win. Tied at 109 with under a minute remaining, guard Jalen Brunson hit a bank shot to give the Knicks the lead for good.

Aside from Randle, the Knicks’ starting five struggled Friday with the other four starters combining for just 42 points.

Randle has been on a bit of a tear as of late, scoring at least 23 points in eight of his last 11 games, including a couple of 30-point performances. New York will need that consistency to continue over the home stretch of the season if they want to avoid the play-in tournament and keep climbing in the East.