Julius Randle hangs 39 on Timberwolves, OG Anunoby debuts with 17 as Knicks snap 3-game skid

NEW YORK — Those damn free throws. Kristian Winfield

Julius Randle missed one with the game already decided in his Knicks’ favor against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday.

It was the first game after the locker room-wrenching trade that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for starting forward OG Anunoby — and Randle dominated the Wolves in a 112-106 victory to start the new year.

Had that free throw fallen, Randle would have logged his second 40-point game of the season.

It didn’t. He’ll have to settle for 39 points on 14-of-24 shooting from the field.

“Yeah, I smoked the free throw for 40,” said Randle.

Josh Hart interrupted Randle’s postgame media session on his way out of the locker room, shouting “make your f–king free throws” as he walked past his All-Star teammate.

Randle shook his head.

“F–k you, man,” he joked. Then he left the locker room.

All smiles for a man whose missed free throw was merely the missing cherry on top of a signature Knicks victory to kick-off 2024.

The Knicks have nothing to be down about after Monday afternoon’s performance — except the ghosts of teammates’ past so soon after Barrett and Quickley were traded to Toronto.

Randle, for example, said he feels like he’s played against every active player in the NBA except for rookies that have yet to face the Knicks.

“(And now) except RJ and Quick,” he said. “So it’ll be different and interesting playing against those guys.”

The Knicks didn’t miss a beat. Without Barrett and Quickley, the rotations were wacky. For example, Brunson and Randle traditionally play the lion’s share of their minutes together with Barrett and Quickley often captaining the second unit.

Brunson shot just 5-of-23 from the field for 16 points but turned in a career-high 14 assists. He also led the second unit, though he was unsure if that would remain the case for the foreseeable future.

“We want to see it. We’re going to learn the group, what gives us the best chance to win,” said head coach Tom Thibodeau after the game. “Having one of [Brunson or Randle] out there, you got a primary scorer so you know you can play off that as well. So we want to play in transition first, then we want to get to the second side, we want to get downhill. But then we know we can go do things too if we feel like that’s what we need. So we’ll see how it goes.”

Anunoby freestyled his way through the offense having merely arrived in New York on Sunday. He finished with 17 points on 3-of-6 shooting from downtown and finished the game plus-19.

Anunoby is living out of a condo and is still looking for a home. In the locker room postgame, Donte DiVincenzo gave him pointers on which neighborhoods closest to the Knicks’ Tarrytown training facility are best to live in.

It’s clear he makes the Knicks a better team with his defensive instincts. His presence helped the Knicks snap a three-game losing streak.

Next up, they host the Chicago Bulls on Wednesday.

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