MILWAUKEE — For Julius Randle, the In-Season Tournament looked a lot like the regular season: putrid.
In Friday’s pool-play opener — which doubled as a regular-season game — Randle missed 15 of his 20 shots and disappeared for most of the second half, unable to assist a brilliant Jalen Brunson performance in a 110-105 defeat to the Bucks.
“I’m just not in rhythm. Not in rhythm, everything just seems a little bit off,” Randle said, “and you just start pressing a little bit.”
Randle’s last attempt sealed the defeat when his turnaround was blocked by Brook Lopez with about 18 seconds left.
Tom Thibodeau, peppered with questions about Randle’s dud, turned animated.
The coach didn’t single out his All-Star, but it felt like Randle was the target audience.
“If you’re open, you shoot,” Thibodeau said. “If there’s three guys on you, you hit the open man. It’s simple, it’s not hard.”
Randle finished 1-for-9 on 3-pointers.
Over his last 17 games — which includes a dud playoffs — Randle has shot (shield your eyes, children) 82-for-248 (33%).
At least in Friday’s matchup, the 28-year-old didn’t lollygag on defense like two days prior against Cleveland.
His effort was consistent on that end and he grabbed 12 rebounds, though only three after the break.
Offensively, the low point was a 4-on-2 break at the end of the second quarter, when Randle received the pass on the right side, dribbled into the only two defenders, attempted a slow spin move and launched a shot that didn’t touch the rim.
“Trust the pass,” Thibodeau repeated. “Trust the pass.”
Brunson picked up the slack with 45 points, including 29 in the second half.
His 3-pointer with 1:10 remaining provided the Knicks their first lead since the opening quarter.
But Damian Lillard followed with six straight points from Milwaukee, and the Knicks — playing without an injured RJ Barrett — fell to the championship contenders.
“Whatever we have, we have to find a way to win, that’s what we’ve got to do,” Thibodeau said. “We have more than enough. RJ’s a terrific player. But we have a deep bench. Next guy get in there. We can win. We don’t have to shoot well to be able to win.”
And in the big picture, they don’t have much of a chance if their only All-Star can’t score.
“I think I can just play off the catch, play off the move a little bit more,” Randle reasoned. “For me, less isolation, getting into pick-and-rolls, just playing on the move more, rather than just catching it and staring at bodies.”
With the defeat, the Knicks are 0-1 in East Group B with games upcoming against the Hornets, Wizards and Heat.
For the NBA season, they’re 2-4 with a two-game losing streak.
The Knicks’ defensive philosophy Friday was to build a wall and collapse on Giannis Antetokounmpo when he attempted a drive.
Keep him out of the paint.
It was effective in stopping the two-time MVP, who finished with just 22 points on 10 shots.
But the Knicks’ poor shooting — encapsulated by Randle — lost the game.
They shot just 10-of-39 from beyond the arc.
Lillard had 30 points for the Bucks.
“There’s obviously a lot of things to take away from these games that are positive,” Brunson said. “But we still lose, there’s still a tally in the loss column. Just got to continue to stick together, fight through a little bit of adversity right now.”
