LOS ANGELES — Julius Randle came back red-hot one day after losing his cool.
After his second-half meltdown proved costly in Saturday’s loss to the Clippers, Randle returned to Crypto.com Arena and scored 25 of his 33 points in the first half to help the Knicks end their three-game slide with a 112-108 victory Sunday night over the Lakers.
RJ Barrett contributed 30 points and Immanuel Quickley added 15 for the Knicks (40-30), who were without starting point guard Jalen Brunson for the fourth time in five games with a bruised left foot.
Brunson was wearing a walking boot on the bench, putting his availability for Tuesday’s road-trip finale against the Trail Blazers in doubt.
D’Angelo Russell scored 33 points and Anthony Davis had 17 for the Lakers, who played their seventh straight game without LeBron James (right foot).
With Brunson also out of the lineup Saturday against the Clippers, Randle had earned a game-turning technical foul at the end of the third quarter. He had to be restrained by coach Tom Thibodeau before also getting into shouting matches with teammates and team security near the Knicks’ bench.
Randle, who finished Sunday’s game 11 of 24 from the field, had missed 19 of 24 field-goal attempts against the Clips to extend his slump to 18-for-63 from the floor (28.6 percent) and 7-for-31 from 3-point range (22.6 percent) during the team’s three-game losing skid following nine consecutive victories.
“Look, players are going to go through things. No one’s perfect. But bounce back today,” Thibodeau said before Sunday’s game. “I think overall, he’s done a good job this year. And just [Saturday] is gone. That has nothing to do with today. Be ready for today. So you start at zero today.”
Brunson also has been credited with helping Randle regain his All-Star form in their first season together. Quickley said it’s “absolutely” incumbent on him to help get Randle and others better looks in Brunson’s absence.
Randle came out cooking against his former team with 18 points in the first quarter, featuring one 3-pointer and two traditional three-point plays on drives to the basket, as the Knicks grabbed a 31-27 lead through 12 minutes.
Randle, who added seven points in the second for 25 in the first half, now has a franchise record (since 1997-98) with 644 first-quarter points this season, surpassing Carmelo Anthony’s 628 in 2013-14.
Russell also opened the game hot for the Lakers, nailing his first five shots, including three from beyond the arc, for 13 points in the period.
A breakaway dunk from Deuce McBride (eight points) helped the Knicks extend their cushion to eight early in the second. Another trey by Russell and drives by Davis and Malik Beasley drew the Lakers within one.
But Quickley netted nine in the quarter and 13 in the half, and Randle knocked down his second 3-pointer in the closing seconds for a 62-59 advantage at intermission.
The Knicks pushed the lead back to seven in the opening minutes of the third, and another Randle 3-pointer — giving him 31 points — made it a 77-69 game midway through the quarter. But five straight points for Russell also pushed him past the 30-point mark and cut the lead to one.
Long-range shots from Rui Hachimura and Dennis Schroder gave the Lakers an 84-80 lead with under two minutes to play. But a drive by Quentin Grimes and 3-pointer by McBride left the Knicks within one, 86-85, entering the final period.
Former Laker Josh Hart and McBride buried 3s early in the fourth, and four driving buckets by Barrett gave the Knicks a 99-94 advantage with 8:18 remaining. Following a steal by Isaiah Hartenstein, Barrett then found Obi Toppin for a reverse alley-oop dunk. Barrett then knocked down a 3-pointer from the right side for a 10-point cushion with 5:01 to go.
Davis’ dunk and Schroder’s drive closed the Lakers’ deficit to 110-108 with 19.1 seconds to play, but Hart coolly sank two free throws with five ticks on the clock for a four-point Knick lead.