Julius Randle Named Player of the Week

The Knicks’ All-Star forward Julius Randle has been named Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played between Feb. 27 – Mar. 5.

The hits for Julius Randle and the Knicks just keep coming, as Randle was named Player of the Week for the second time in his career. Over that span, the Knicks had a record of 4-0 and currently have the longest active winning streak in the NBA.

Randle averaged 29.5 points per game along with 8.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists over the four contests he won the award for, and he helped New York win major games over the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics this past Friday and Sunday. The victory over the Heat was especially thanks to him as he hit a game-winning three-point shot to push the Knicks over the Heat.

The Knicks are simply steamrolling through their opponents over their current nine-game winning streak, and have won two games over the Celtics over that stretch of time. Even in their Sunday matchup with Boston where they were without Jalen Brunson, New York was able to rely on Randle, Immanuel Quickley, RJ Barrett, and others to propel them over Boston in a double-overtime thriller.

The Knicks are surging up several power rankings around the league, as well, ranking fifth in the NBA’s most recent power rankings, sixth in the Athletic’s power rankings (headlining the “Brink of Contention” tier), and first in CBS‘ power rankings released today. They have a daunting West Coast road trip ahead of them after facing off with the Charlotte Hornets this week at Madison Square Garden. This includes a primetime game against another team seeing major success with a young team, the Sacramento Kings, and another nationally televised contest with the Los Angeles Lakers who will likely be without LeBron James.

They would need to go 11-5 for the rest of the season in order to reach the 50-win threshold for this season, and the Knicks are currently just one game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for the four seed in the conference.