Julius Randle
Photo: New York Knicks/Twitter

Julius Randle had 34 points and 10 rebounds as helped the New York Knicks defeat the Los Angeles Lakers (111-96), a team that drafted him at number 7 back in 2014.

The 26-year-old power forward made progress since he left LA in 2018. This season, he became an All-Star for the first time.

Randle’s performance against the Lakers was appreciated by the fans at Madison Square Garden as they chanted “MVP” when the forward had the ball. In postgame press conference he was appreciative of the support he got from the fans.

“It’s cool, man, the love that you get in the Garden that the fans are showing me is amazing,” Randle said. “It’s good, man. It feels really good, honestly. I’m not going to lie. More for me it’s just about motivating me to keep working harder and bringing it every night.”

This season Randle is averaging 22.8 points, 10.7 rebounds and 6 assists per game as the Knicks are trying to qualify for the playoffs. They are currently in the eighth place in the Easter Conference with 28 wins and 27 losses but are just one win behind the fourth-placed Atlanta Hawks.