Julius Randle has his eyes on Game 1.
The power forward is officially listed as questionable for Saturday’s contest against the Cavaliers, and he’ll warm up pregame with the idea of returning to the lineup, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski
Randle sprained his ankle on March 29 and the Knicks claimed he wasn’t cleared for contact as recently as Thursday’s practice. Still, coach Tom Thibodeau acknowledged Randle had begun sprinting and he wasn’t worried about conditioning after such a long layoff.
“I think he’s done a good job with that,” Thibodeau said. “He’s done a lot of cardio-type stuff. But again, you can do whatever it is, it’s not the same as the intensity of an NBA game. The contact, the strength part of it, the conditioning part of it, that’s where you see it. But whatever he can give us, he’ll give us. I’m confident in that.”
Assuming Randle goes through warmups without a setback, he’ll join a lineup that will battle Cleveland’s top-ranked defense. “Julius is a big piece so playing with him and then without him are kind of two different games,” Cavs forward Evan Mobley said. “With him on the floor, they’re definitely dynamic with him and [Jalen] Brunson. And then with him off the floor it’s mostly Brunson doing a lot of the playmaking and stuff like that. It’s two different games basically.”
Randle hadn’t missed a game before sustaining the injury against the Miami Heat. He was replaced in the lineup by Obi Toppin, who’d go back to playing limited minutes if Randle returns.
“When Julius is there, it’s a lot of ISO ball,” Cavs guard Darius Garland said. “He’s really just trying to get downhill and be aggressive. But when he is not, Jalen Brunson has the ball in his hand a lot more. He’s into his ISO bag and trying to be aggressive. It’s different dynamics.”
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