STRONG ROAD TRIP

The Knicks looked like a team ready to play out of the string going into the All-Star break. They suffered three straight brutal losses before the break and were facing a tough schedule in late February/early March.

But Knicks players and coaches deserve credit for remaining competitive coming out of the break, particularly on this current road trip.

The Knicks had won three straight prior to Friday’s loss at Memphis. They played a strong game against the Grizzlies, the No. 2 team in the Western Conference.

New York led by 15 with one minute to play in the third but couldn’t hold the lead due to a few careless turnovers and strong play from Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr.

There are no moral victories in pro sports but this Knicks team is still being evaluated both internally and externally. So Julius Randle’s strong play matters. He had 36 points, 12 rebounds and six assists against Memphis and got to the free-throw line 13 times. Randle went 11-for-27 from the field and had four turnovers, but he ran the floor hard and was aggressive all night.

When the Knicks were down five with under 2:30 to play, both Randle and RJ Barrett had ill-timed turnovers. This was another game where you wondered if the result would be different with a healthy Derrick Rose.

All of that aside, Randle has been playing at a higher level during the road trip.

In the five games prior to Friday, Randle averaged 26 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists while knocking down 43 percent of his three-point attempts.

Does this stretch change anything about how Randle is viewed by the Knicks? Does it change how Randle is viewed by other teams?

As we’ve noted in the past, several teams had interest in Randle prior to the Feb. 10 trade deadline. Some of the teams with interest in Randle felt that he could be effective in an altered role.

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