Knicks' Julius Randle scores career-high 57 points in loss

NEW YORK — Julius Randle scored a career-high 57 points, but that wasn't enough to save the New York Knicks from a disappointing 140-134 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.

Randle's dominance was apparent throughout the first three quarters of a defenseless showcase in which the Knicks trailed by as many as 17. Randle poured in a team-record 26 points in the third quarter, bringing the Knicks back into the game, but the All-Star forward wasn't able to will his team across the finish line, scoring just five points in the fourth.

Randle was 19-for-29 from the field and 8-for-14 from 3-point range in passing his previous career best of 46 points. He played 37 minutes and made 11-of-13 from the free throw line.

Randle's 52 points after three quarters were on pace to eclipse Carmelo Anthony's franchise-record 62, scored in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats on Jan. 24, 2014. Anthony's 62 also represents the most points scored in a game at Madison Square Garden (since 1968). Next on that list are James Harden (2019) and Kobe Bryant (2009), both with 61.

Aside from Anthony, Bernard King was the only other Knicks player to hit the 60-point mark, doing so Dec. 25, 1984, against the New Jersey Nets.

• Career-high 57 points; tied for 3rd-most in a game in Knicks history • First 50-point game by Knicks player since Carmelo Anthony in 2014 (62 points) • Fifth-most in a game at MSG (since 1968) and the most since James Harden in 2019 • 26 points in 3rd quarter, the most in any quarter by a Knicks player in franchise history; scored 5 points in 4th quarter

The difference for the Knicks on Monday night was a lack of intensity on the defensive end. The Timberwolves got to the rim almost at will