Bernard King on Julius Randle joining elite Knicks scorers

MIAMI — Bernard King has been in attendance at “quite a few” Knicks games at Madison Square Garden this season, by his estimation, but he wasn’t there Monday night when Julius Randle nearly joined him in an exclusive club in team history.

Randle, with 57 points in a loss to the Timberwolves, fell just short of joining King and franchise record-holder Carmelo Anthony in scoring at least 60 points in one game for the Knicks.

The 66-year-old King joked that he understands “better than anyone” why Randle had difficulty being elated about his historic night.

Nearly 40 years after he netted 60 points on Christmas Day in 1984 against the Nets, King didn’t hesitate to offer the most enduring memory of his feat.

“That we lost,” King told Sports+ on Wednesday in a telephone interview. “Obviously, all Julius wants to do is win. I considered myself a winner, and I just wanted to win that ballgame. Not because I had a great number of points, but it’s all about winning. I would have taken less points to win the game.

“However, I did have a dynamic day, it was an afternoon game on Christmas Day. And that’s something that’s part of the lore of Knicks history and part of my career and what I was able to accomplish. So you can’t just discredit 60 points, or 57 points, because it’s a phenomenal performance, and you don’t see players having that type of game all the time, as Melo did when he scored 62.”

King, whose team record was broken by Anthony in 2014 in a game against the Charlotte Bobcats, offered nothing but praise for Randle, well beyond Monday’s historic performance.

“Julius has been on fire. He had a great night obviously, scoring 57, but since the All-Star Game he’s taken his play to another level,” King said. “I think, in part, playing in the All-Star Game gives you a tremendous amount of confidence going into the second half of the season.

“He definitely has that, he’s playing in great rhythm, he’s rebounding well and distributing the ball well. He’s also been just a tremendous, dynamic scorer who can beat you from anywhere on the court. He can score inside or outside, and if you look at that a little more closely, a lot of his game is similar to LeBron James to the extent of the 3-point shot, the ability to handle the ball in the open floor, and the other aspect is overpowering defenses physically.”

Randle entered Wednesday night’s game averaging 29.5 points and 3.9 made 3-pointers over 13 appearances since the break. He was limited to just 15 points (1-for-5 from 3-point range)…