The New York Knicks defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 125-119 in overtime last night. The 76ers lost without Joel Embiid because of the culture they’ve built the past 10 years. The Knicks won without Karl-Anthony Towns because of the culture they’ve built the past five. Those cultures can be defined and distinguished by two bigs who weren’t even there last night.
Julius Randle was in Minnesota, scoring 17 in his team’s loss to Golden State. Jahlil Okafor scored a dozen the night before in a win for the G League’s Indiana Mad Ants. Randle may end up having a direct impact on this Knick season, given his Timberwolves visit Madison Square Garden tomorrow night and he may be slightly motivated to kick some ass all over the place.