NEW YORK — Julius Randle felt things were out of place when he saw Immanuel Quickley bringing the ball up the court after Toronto won the opening tip.
Randle made sure his former teammate’s return to Madison Square Garden wasn’t a winning one.
Randle finished with 18 points, 16 rebounds and 10 assists for his 14th career triple-double, and the Knicks routed the Raptors 126-100 on Saturday night in the first meeting between the teams since a trade last month.
RJ Barrett and Quickley were welcomed back with loud cheers, but the Knicks improved to 9-2 since OG Anunoby joined their lineup after the Dec. 30 deal that has helped both teams.
“Those guys are special to me, a special relationship built with them,” Randle said. “I know they talk (about) how much I mean to them, but they mean a lot to me. To be honest, they taught me about leadership, how to carry myself, how to be open, how to be honest.
“Those were things I didn’t necessarily have coming here, vocally. I was more of a lead by example, just play hard every night. But those guys brought a different side of me.”
Jalen Brunson scored 38 points on 13-for-23 shooting from the field and hit each of his seven free throws. Randle had his eighth triple-double with the Knicks.
Precious Achiuwa, who also came to New York in last month’s trade, had 18 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Donte DiVincenzo scored 17 points and Anunoby chipped in 14 for the Knicks, who have won three consecutive games.
New York outrebounded the Raptors 61-31 on a night Isaiah Hartenstein, who is filling in as the starting center in place of the injured Mitchell Robinson, was limited to just 23 minutes because of a sore left ankle.
“We try to emphasize outrebounding teams as best you can,” Brunson said. “It was one of those nights were we just outrebounded them by a lot, but it’s always an emphasis.”
Barrett scored 20 points and Quickley had 12 points and 11 assists. Gary Trent Jr. added 16 points for the Raptors, who have lost six of their last seven games.
Brunson spoiled Barrett’s and Quickley’s return by scoring 12 points during an 18-4 run to start the third quarter and capped it off with a 3-pointer that put the Knicks ahead 77-63 with 7:03 left in the period.
Barrett, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, and Quickley, the 20th pick in the 2020 draft, received loud cheers when starting lineups were announced and again following a video tribute midway through the first quarter.
Barrett appreciated the reception but was caught off guard by the highlight montage that showed some of his and Quickley’s top plays during their New York tenure.
“It was amazing. Thank you to the fans,” Barrett said. “We got a tribute video. I didn’t think we were going to get that, but that was cool. I am very appreciative of my time here. To come back, I had a lot of emotions for sure.”
Quickley enjoyed catching up with his old teammates and coaching staff, including associate head coach Johnnie Bryant, with whom he traded friendly barbs.
“I been tripped the whole day since the scouting report, since I seen Knicks. I’m like, ‘Wait! What?’ he said. “The whole day was just a little different for me, but good to see my friends. Obviously wanted the win. Good luck to all of them.”
Brunson and Randle combined for 30 points to help the Knicks take a 59-57 lead at halftime.
