Julius Randle’s Knicks slump has come at the worst time

Julius Randle has developed into everything the Knicks could have envisioned this season and more, a legitimate All-Star forward and an unquestioned team leader helping to vault them into position to possibly reach the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2013.

But the Knicks’ current 1-5 slide also has coincided with Randle’s first extended shooting slump of the season since he returned from a one-game absence March 27 in Milwaukee with a contused right thigh. Randle insisted again after Wednesday’s two-point loss in Boston that his leg is “fine” and the injury has had “no impact on me at all.” While RJ Barrett went 6-for-6 from 3-point range and scored 29 points against the Celtics, Randle was 2-for-6 from long distance and 9-for-23 overall.