The 2021-22 NBA regular season began Tuesday, and Wednesday in Madison Square Garden the New York Knicks came away with a 138-134 double overtime win over the Boston Celtics. Knicks forward Julius Randle did big things, putting up 35 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and three steals, while new Knick Evan Fournier impressed with 32 points and six rebounds. Here’s what Randle had to say in post-game interviews:
Julius Randle on the team’s performance: “We made some mental mistakes, errors, but at the end of the day, we found a way to win the game. A lot of emotion, a lot of adrenaline, two overtimes. Everybody stepped up and made big plays and that’s the most important thing to end games and win games.”
On battling through double overtime: “Just find a way to win. Just find a way to win. Down the stretch, we can still be better, I can be better, but we made plays. Everybody made plays – defensive plays, we got stops. From the beginning I said we have to lock in on the defensive end and as long as we do that, we’re going to be a problem.”
On Obi Toppin’s progression: “He’s [Obi Toppin] confident. He’s just playing. Playing to his strengths, his athleticism, his speed, getting out. He’s just taking the game easy. Close outs, he drives, makes a play at the rim, shoots threes with confidence. All of that is just repetition and work. He comes to work every day and works extremely hard.”
On Evan Fournier’s performance: “Evan’s [Fournier] great. He came up super clutch in the overtime’s and made some big shots. We talked after the game and there’s things that we feel like we can do better and work on. He has an extremely high IQ.”