Julius Randle said that his flagrant foul on Danilo Gallinari was in defense of Knicks teammate

The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks have put together one of the more entertaining matchups of these NBA playoffs, but after Sunday’s Game 4, frustrations seemed to be showing for New York.

The Hawks took a commanding 3-1 series lead on Sunday, 113-96, behind 27 points from Trae Young. And as we tend to see in the playoffs, the two teams have clearly grown to dislike each other.

Late in the fourth quarter of the blowout game, Julius Randle was called for a flagrant foul when he shoved the Hawks’ Danilo Gallinari with his forearm. The moment that the officials intervened, Randle was met with approval from teammate Reggie Bullock on the bench.

There’s a reason for that.

Earlier in the quarter, Bullock took some contact under the basket from Gallinari and was livid. Once the game was in a timeout, Bullock charged at the Hawks’ bench and had to be separated before picking up a technical.

That play was fresh on Randle’s mind as he admitted after the game that he shoved Gallinari as a direct response to Bullock who felt like he was on the wrong side of a cheap shot.

Bullock clearly appreciated that Randle had his back there, but at the same time, it’s not a great look for the Knicks to be focusing on retribution during a blowout playoff loss.

They’ll have to regroup for Wednesday’s Game 5. If not, the Knicks’ first trip to the playoffs in eight years will be a quick one.