ATLANTA — Julius Randle loved the behavior of the Knicks’ electric crowds of 15,000-plus for the first two playoff games — except for one guy: “The Trae Young Spitter.’’

The All-Star forward blasted the Knicks fan who spat on the Hawks superstar from the second row during Wednesday’s Game 2. The spotter has been banned from the Garden.

“I definitely didn’t see it, but there’s no place for that, man,’’ Randle said. “I don’t care if it’s our home crowd or not, there’s no place for that. We’ve got to protect the players. That’s disrespectful. Yeah, it’s our fans and I love our fans, but you see a guy on the street, you wouldn’t spit on him. You wouldn’t disrespect somebody like that. I don’t care what arena it’s in, whose fan base it is, there’s absolutely no place for disrespecting anybody in any capacity and especially spitting on him. That’s just ridiculous.’’

The series switched to Atlanta’s State Farm Arena for Game 3 Friday, where 16,000 were expected to attend. Traditionally, Hawks games feature a good showing of Knicks fans as a lot of transplanted New Yorkers live in “Hotlanta.”

“I’m sure we will [have Knicks fans], even though our home crowd obviously has been amazing,’’ Randle said. “It’ll be different on the road, obviously. But I feel like we’ll still have fans there regardless. Regardless of the crowd, we have to come with the mindset of just being the harder-playing team. We’ve got to execute better. Everything we’ve done all year that’s made us win games, that’s helped us win games — we just have to have that same mindset. And just have it at a higher intensity level.’’

The series was tied at a game apiece, though Randle scored 15 points in each of the first two contests — well below his 24.1-point scoring average in the regular season. In his first playoff series, Randle is shooting just 28.2 percent.

“It’s everything I expected, honestly,’’ Randle said. “Just the intensity level, every possession matters. Just the game plan, the game plan discipline, so it’s everything I expected. You’ve just got to keep adjusting, keep learning, keep growing from it, and keep getting better. So that’s what I expect to do. As the series goes on I’ll continue to get better.’’

Randle has admitted the hype for the playoffs may have gotten to him. His adrenaline was so pumped entering Game 1, he said his energy was sapped by the second half.

The Knicks decided to still hold a pregame ceremony for Randle before Game 2 to present him with the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award, with front-office executives Leon Rose, Scott Perry (who signed him in 2019) and William Wesley part of the shindig.

The fans chanted “MVP, MVP,’’ showering him with more adulation. He had nothing in his arsenal in the first half, going without a field goal. The starting-lineup change to start the second half seemed to do good by Randle, as Derrick Rose fed him for a 3-pointer on the first possession. Randle wound up scoring 13 second-half points to finish with 15 — still below his regular-season average and the 37.3 points he averaged in three regular-season games against the Hawks, all victories.

There was one ghastly turnover in the second half when Randle cut into the lane and tried to feed Rose on the wing. But Randle missed the mark by more than the socially distanced 6 feet.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Knicks assistant Kenny Payne, a former Kentucky assistant, relaxed Randle with some words during a timeout. Payne coached Randle back in his bluegrass days.

Randle doesn’t remember Payne’s exact message, but he didn’t dispute it got him going down the stretch of the Game 2 victory.

“We have so many discussions,’’ Randle said. “He’s on my ass all the time. He’s a great mentor for me, a great coach. He has my back and is going to be push me. I don’t remember what the conversation was. Whatever it was, it seemed to work and hopefully will carry over to the next game.’’