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Tim BontempsESPN
New York Knicks forward Julius Randle had to be stopped by his teammates to face Scott Foster after the veteran referee called him off a trip in the closing seconds of New York’s 117-112 road loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.
“It was a conversation, but I think it’s just best that I don’t comment on the situation,” Randle said afterwards. “There was a lot of frustration behind it, and – I mean from both sides – so I just leave it in the past and move on to the next game.
“It was just frustrating. Obviously we fought so hard to come back and try to win the game. So I was just frustrated. And that was about it. But we still have a chance tomorrow to do it. So just focus on that. “
Randle got the chance to even the game in the final seconds when he got up to take a 3-pointer with five seconds to go. But Nets star Kyrie Irving managed to hit the ball on the way up, leaving Randle to juggle with it and unable to get the shot.
“Of course we designed a play and I thought Ky was going to make a mistake right away, so I tried to go a little faster,” said Randle. “But the play happened – whatever happened is what it is, and it’s in the past.”
As a result, when he attempted to dribble the ball towards the ground, he was called up for a trip by Foster with 3.2 seconds to go.
After James Harden received the inbounds pass and hit a few free throws to seal victory for Brooklyn, which has now won 13 of the past 14 games, Randle was still furious with Foster. He had to be stopped by rookie Obi Toppin, among others, when he tried to transfer to Foster after the game.
Randle, who finished with 33 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals in 41 minutes, was eventually taken off the floor, in part by Knicks director William Wesley, although he knocked over a chair when he came out of the bottom bowl when he marched back to the visiting dressing room.
“I was going to make a mistake early on, but I saw him lining up for a jump shot,” said Irving, who led all the goalscorers by 34 points. “I felt like I could get a good hand with it. Scott called with travel. I thought Julius had made a good play after that by putting it down. I would give him a mistake afterwards to get him to the free-throw line. to get.”
‘That’s what it looked like. That’s how it went. ‘
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau, on the other hand, was not so generous.
“I thought it was a tough decision,” said Thibodeau. “I thought we had a lot of difficult calls along the way.”
Foster explained why the travel call was made after the game.
“The defender was supposed to touch the ball, but not to untie or untie it,” he told the pool reporter. “Then, when the player gets out, he cannot intentionally drop or dribble the ball or touch it first after dropping the ball.”
The furor surrounding the call against Randle overshadowed a wild comeback from the Knicks, who were down 115-108 with 28.6 seconds to go, only to force two jump balls by tying Harden and Joe Harris back to back.
Ultimately, however, Irving’s play saw Brooklyn triumph in the Battle of the Boroughs.
“I think as players we feel it naturally,” said Irving, a Nets fan who grew up in Northern New Jersey, of the rivalry between the Knicks and Nets.
“But being from here, it’s a bit of a different feeling because I need to go home and actually be around Knicks and Nets fans. It’s my family. So it’s basketball, it’s competition. It’s a world sport. So it’s just nothing but respect. But of course you want to come out here and just have fun fighting the New York Knicks. They’ve played well this season. It’s a well-coached team and I appreciate the just chance. “