Julius Randle is out of health and safety protocols.
After a short stint in health and safety protocols, Julius Randle is back with the New York Knicks. According to the team, Randle is listed as questionable for Tuesday night’s tilt with the Indiana Pacers.
Centers Mitchell Robinson and Jericho Sims are also out of health and safety protocols.
The Knicks are listing Randle as questionable due to conditioning concerns. A few Knicks have needed time to ramp up before returning to the court.
It’s also worth noting that Randle was “nicked up” right before he entered health and safety protocols, according to Tom Thibodeau. Perhaps the time off gave the All-Star enough time to rest up and recover.
Randle, 27, is having a down season one year after earning All-NBA Second Team honors. Although he’s averaging a double-double (19.3 ppg, 10.0 rpg), his shooting numbers are way down. After connecting on a career-high 41.1% of his threes last season, he’s down to 32.8% this year.
He doesn’t look like the same player on either end of the floor, but there is still plenty of time to turn things around. The Eastern Conference is top-heavy, but the rest of the conference is wide open.
Tuesday represents an opportunity for the Knicks to get back on track at home against the struggling Pacers. Indiana has lost their last four games and is currently nine games below .500. That’s a season-worst mark for the Pacers.
The Knicks are 7-11 at Madison Square Garden in 2021-22, but the Pacers might be just what the doctor ordered. Indiana is currently sporting a 3-14 record on the road — ouch.
