After turning off the lights on the season’s opening night, RJ Barrett got stuck into some rough spots, and the second coincided with the midst of a losing streak.
But even though the Knicks’ triple-winning streak was cut off Friday night against Kings in Sacramento, California, Barrett rediscovered his touch and was a major influence in the process.
“We’re just trying to work hard and grind every day,” said Barrett, after scoring 28 points on a 10 to 17 shot in Thursday’s win over the Warriors. “That’s really what we’re trying to do. We’re really focused. We’ve done everything we can and will continue to do that throughout the season.”
at Friday’s loss 103-94 in front of the Kings, Barrett has had 21 points on an 8-to-17 shot – including going 2 to 2 of 3. During his last five matches that entered Friday, Barrett has averaged 21.8 points – at 51.4 percent of shot and 38.9 percent of depth. – To go with 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists. In 10 matches prior to that, he was only shoving 33.1 percent off the ground and 12.8 percent off the arc – numbers boosted by two matches in the middle as the leftist got hot for a while and shot 18 of 34 off the ground and 5 to 10 off three.
Coach Tom Tibudo said, “I think RJ has played really well more than that, I would say it’s like the last five or six games, and he’s played at a really high level.” “He started the season as he spent a big opening night and I think the teams came after him well. But he is coping and even while on stretch where he was not shooting well, he was bouncing nicely and was making games.
Frank Ntelikina has missed his 13th game in a row since he sprained his right knee on December 29th. Austin Rivers also missed the second night in a row due to pain in the right Achilles tendon. Sunday’s match in Portland has switched from 9 PM ET to 10 PM
Additional report by Peter Bout
