Knicks feeling absence of Julius Randle’s secondary scoring punch

PHILADELPHIA — As the Knicks’ offense had become increasingly reliant on one person — sometimes with success, other times with worrisome stretches of scoring droughts — Josh Hart hasn’t forgotten the reasons Julius Randle would be helping.

“Where do I start? I mean, he’s an All-Star,” said Hart, who essentially replaced Randle in the starting lineup but not his offensive production. “He [averaged] 24 [points] and nine [rebounds] and five [assists], so that playmaking, shot making, is something that we’re missing.

“It’s funny — when people talk about us they somehow forget the big void we have of 24 and nine gone. It’s not like he’s out there with us 70-80 percent. He’s not out there. So that’s something that’s a big void that we knew was gonna be hard to fill, but his playmaking, his shotmaking, his energy is something that we definitely miss.”

Jalen Brunson developed into a one-man show after Randle suffered his dislocated shoulder, and that’s only been magnified in the playoffs.

Entering Thursday’s Game 6, Brunson accounted for one-third of the team’s total points and carried a usage rate of 36.1 percent — well above the 28 percent when he shared the court with Randle until February.

If you ranked the players in the Knicks-Sixers series who could create shots for themselves in the half-court, Philadelphia would have three of the top four — with definitely Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey joining Brunson on the list, and probably Tobias Harris directly after.