“He’s hungrier now than he was last year, which I thought was impossible” – New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau on Julius Randle’s 35-point performance against the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks just ended a lung-busting double-overtime thriller at Madison Square Garden with a score of 138-134 to the home team’s favor.

The world-famous venue was rocking to the ground as Julius Randle of the Knicks and Jaylen Brown of the Celtics put on a duel for the ages.

The New York Knicks’ franchise player led the charge with a scintillating stat line of 35 points, 8 rebounds and 9 assists. Tom Thibodeau was full of praise after the latest show of dominance from Randle.

Here’s what Thibodeau thought of the Knicks’ star player:

“He gives you everything he has…He had that monster year last year, got a new contract…And he’s hungrier now than he was last year, which I thought was impossible.”

Last season, Julius Randle carried the New York Knicks to a surprising run into the playoffs against the up-and-coming Atlanta Hawks of Trae Young. His performance was enough to garner him his first All-Star selection.

Despite Randle’s gutsy play against the Hawks’ swarming defense, the Knicks still fell short of their goal because of a lack of scoring support from the rest of the roster.

With Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier already paying dividends to the New York Knicks’ overall play, Julius Randle’s desire to be better than before is already evident. In the team’s curtain-raiser, the power forward showed off his vast repertoire of moves that the Boston Celtics had no way of answering.

An argument could be made that Al Horford, who is sidelined due to health and safety protocols, could have put in a more decent effort to stop Julius Randle’s overpowering performance for the New York Knicks. It’s a solution that could probably only work for short stretches, given how Randle completely outperformed the entire Boston Celtics frontline.

How far will the New York Knicks go this season?

One game does not make a season. The New York Knicks need to be fully healthy to at least replicate their playoff run last season. With a clean bill of health, they should be vying for the 4-8 spots in the reloaded Eastern Conference.

The Knicks acquired Walker and Fournier for games just like the season opener, where Randle will need all the scoring support to win the ball game. Even more exciting for this Big Apple Team is the emergence of at least three of its young stars.

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Mitchell Robinson, Obi Toppin and RJ Barrett all had significant hands in the grueling slugfest against the Boston Celtics. If their progression becomes more pronounced as the season unfolds, the New York Knicks could take that next step to elite status in the East.

Tom Thibodeau’s elite defense and an improving offense will only mean bad news for the rest of the league.