On Monday night at Madison Square Garden, the New York Knicks suffered a heartbreaking 140-134 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves despite Julius Randle scoring a career-high 57 points.
After the game, Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau observed, "It's a shame to waste a performance like that. The opening three quarters of a vulnerable exhibition in which the Knicks trailed by as many as 17 points were marked by Randle's dominance.
The Knicks were able to get back into the game when Randle scored a team-high 26 points in the third quarter, but the All-Star forward was unable to lead his team to victory, scoring just five points in the fourth.
Guard for the Knicks Jalen Brunson remarked, "He performed so good. "He performed wonderful music and brought us back. To assist him make his career night feel unique, we simply need to work harder as a team. But when you lose that, everything kind of loses its emotional content."
Randle surpassed his previous career high of 46 points by shooting 19 for 29 from the field and 8 for 14 from beyond the arc. He participated for 37 minutes and converted 11 out of 13 free throw attempts.
Randle was on pace to surpass Carmelo Anthony's franchise-record 62 points, which he achieved in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on January 24, 2014, with 52 points through three quarters.
The 62 points scored by Anthony are also the most ever in a game at Madison Square Garden (since 1968). James Harden (2019) and Kobe Bryant (2009, both with 61) are the next players on that list.
Bernard King, who accomplished this feat against the New Jersey Nets on December 25, 1984, was the only other Knicks player to reach the 60-point plateau besides Anthony.
The prideful big man was brief in his postgame remarks, but he did reveal a little more when talking about what it meant to him to be able to join Anthony and King on a scoring list at Madison Square Garden.
The Knicks' Monday night performance was different due to a lack of defensive ferocity. The Timberwolves, who shot 61.4% from the field on Monday, nearly always got to the rim.