Knicks' Tom Thibodeau on Julius Randle Ejection: 'You Can't Cross Over That Line'

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said forward Julius Randle must learn to control his emotions better after being ejected during the third quarter of Friday's 115-114 loss to the Phoenix Suns.

Randle became engaged in an altercation with the Suns' Cam Johnson, which resulted in both players receiving a technical foul, and the Knicks star was hit with a second tech for continuing the confrontation while also making contact with referee Dedric Taylor.

"It's an emotional game, but you can't cross over that line," Thibodeau told reporters. "You gotta know where to stop. None of us are perfect. We're gonna make mistakes. But we gotta be disciplined."

The ejection became a pivotal turning point in the contest.

New York lost a key contributor as Randle was putting together a terrific game before the ejection with 25 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 28 minutes.

The altercation also seemed to light a fire under Johnson, who poured in 21 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, highlighted by his game-winning, banked-in three at the buzzer:

"He was hooping, carrying us tonight, he was on his way to a 40-point night," Knicks guard RJ Barrett told reporters about Randle. "It would've helped us with the energy he brought to the game. But we still should've won that game."

Thibodeau viewed the situation through a similar lens.

"It's tough to lose him. He had a great game going," the Knicks coach said. "I'm concerned about everything. The shame of it is I thought we came out with a great effort to start the game. We had the game going in a good way, and we fell short in the end. It's disappointing to come out with a loss."

Randle didn't speak with the media following the game.

Those losses are even more crushing for a team like New York, which holds a limited margin for error in the race to earn a berth in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament.

The Knicks (25-38) sit 12th in the East standings and find themselves 5.5 games behind the Charlotte Hornets (31-33) for 10th, the final spot in the play-in.

Randle and Co. will attempt to bounce back Sunday when they continue their seven-game road trip with a visit to face the Los Angeles Clippers.