Julius Randle wasn’t necessarily making excuses.
He was explaining the situation.
His surgically repaired left ankle is still limiting him, and he really isn’t surprised by that.
“I told you guys from the beginning it was a process. I had surgery four-and-a-half months ago, and it’s a lower-extremity surgery, so to think that I would come into this season and just be Julius off the bat is kind of naive,” Randle said after practice on Friday. “I knew from the beginning it was gonna be a process. It’s a gradual buildup. I’m starting to get better, but it’s a gradual buildup.”
Randle, 28, was peppered with questions about the ankle on the heels of a report by The Post’s Stefan Bondy that he had resisted missing time while the ankle got stronger, but that it was a part of his early season struggles.
A source said he was playing at 70 percent.
Randle confirmed most aspects of the report, but didn’t want to use the injury as a reason for his sluggish play.
The two-time All-Star has begun to play better, averaging 25 points while shooting 42.5 percent from the field in the Knicks’ past two games, commanding wins over the Clippers and Spurs.
In his first six games, those numbers were 13.5 points at 27.1 percent.
Randle heaped praise upon teammates Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett for picking their play up as he finds his game, and while he didn’t rule out sitting out the second half of any upcoming back-to-backs, he didn’t completely dismiss it, either.
Randle has missed just 16 games over the last three seasons, all because of injury. He has shunned load management.
“It just depends on how my body is feeling, how my ankle is recovering the next day,” he said, when asked directly about his feelings toward playing both ends of back-to-backs.
But, Randle added: “I just love the game. I love competition. I just love being out there, playing for my teammates. A lot of people look back and their career goes by fast, and they wish they would’ve done this and that. And I’m the type of person, leave no stone unturned, just go out there and compete every chance I get. I just love to play at the end of the day.”
Coach Tom Thibodeau played down the idea that he may need to rest Randle, emphasizing it is merely something his star forward has to work through.
He missed so much on-court time this summer because of rehab that the only way for Randle to regain his feel is by putting in extra hours, not by taking time off.
“That’s probably the biggest difference for him in terms of timing and rhythm,” Thibodeau said. “He puts a lot of time into that, working on his shot and things like that. You take that away, it’s going to show. You’re going to feel it. It’s been such a big part of his routine for such a long time.”
Thibodeau also sees progress, particularly in the past two games.
He also pointed to the Oct. 27 victory in Atlanta over the Hawks, when Randle had 17 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists.
The coach called it one of Randle’s best all-around performances since he arrived in New York.
He also is averaging 11.1 rebounds per game, so that area of his game has been there.
“It’s definitely better than the first game of the season. But like I said, it’s still a process. It’s a buildup,” Randle said. “I came into the season with the end in mind of where I wanted to be at the end of the season, and I’m exactly where I need to be right now. Just keep building it up.”
