I was fearing that this career-high performance for Julius Randle would be nothing but layups. Layups and getting fouled on layups. That’s what the first half was, at least. Just Randle slamming his way into the paint like a bull in a china shop and placing the ball in the hole from close range. Can’t even blame him. Why was Harden guarding him on some of those possessions anyway?
Luckily for discerning highlight viewers like yourself, in the second half he pulled out some other moves. Namely, the “Bully Ryan Anderson And Then Travel While Shooting A Fadeaway Jumper” move, which he did twice, and the “Dunk” move, which he did once. Variety, as they say, is the spice of life, and Randle certainly spiced things up with those spicy moves.
Overall, a very impressive game for Randle, even if he didn’t score 40 like I thought he probably would after his insane first half. Man, Randle scoring 40. That would’ve been a trip. Living proof that you don’t need to necessarily have a silky jumper to drop big scoring games in this league.