RJ’S THE BOSS

Barrett steps up, Spike avoids Oakley-esque moment on wild night at Garden

RJ Barrett and the Knicks made a great first impression on their new president.

With Leon Rose sitting in MSG’s executive row for the first time, the Knicks upset the Rockets on Monday night, 125123, with Barrett dropping 27 points and a clutch layup.

It was the first time the Rockets lost at the Garden since 2009, and it ended with Russell Westbrook’s potential tying shot bouncing off the rim at the buzzer. The effort prompted a standing applause from Rose.

“They played a good game,” Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Our first three quarters, especially the first two quarters, were lackadaisical.”

During the game, famed Knicks fan Spike Lee got into an argument with MSG security in a hallway and it appeared the director shouted, “If you want to arrest me like Oakley, go ahead. …”

Despite speculation on social media that he was booted from the arena, Lee watched Monday’s game from his usual courtside seat. According to a Knicks spokesperson, the argument stemmed from Lee trying to go through the wrong entrance. A source said it was the employee entrance and owner James Dolan spoke with Lee at halftime to resolve the issue.

Meanwhile, on the court, James Harden, who dropped a career-high 61 points on the Knicks the last time he was at MSG in January of 2019, suffered through an off shooting night. Harden went 8for-22, 3-for-13 from beyond the arc, but still managed a cool 37 points (because he was 16-for-16 from the foul line).

But Barrett was the hero. The rookie hit 10 of his 18 shots in 30 minutes, including a driving layup with 7.6 seconds left to give the Knicks a 3-point advantage. Westbrook quickly responded with his layup before Julius Randle was fouled and made one of his two free throws.

That set up the final play with the Rockets trailing by two. Westbrook got the call out of a timeout, pulled up near the top of the key, and barely missed.

The Knicks (19-42), who’ve won two consecutive games, outrebounded the Rockets, 65-34. They also hauled in 20 offensive boards.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the league in offensive rebounding so you know that you’ll have to box out and we didn’t all the time,” D’Antoni said. “Most of it was in the first half. They had too many open 3s and we weren’t in people’s faces and there just wasn’t enough energy.”

The Knicks pounded the Rockets from tipoff, jumping out to a 21-point advantage midway through the second quarter. They also led by 18 in the third quarter before Westbrook’s layup cut the deficit to one with a minute remaining.

“A lot of emotional stuff was going on,” D’Antoni said. “We won a big game in Boston (overtime on Saturday), we came in here and we weren’t ready to play for the first 20 or 24 minutes.”

Harden was impressed with Barrett’s mentality. “Aggressive. I like it, especially as a rookie,” the league’s leading scorer said. “Not timid at all and when you’re aggressive and confident in your game, you look good out there. Want him to continue to build his confidence and keep being aggressive and have the opportunity, which he will, to be great.”

Earlier in the day, new Knicks president addressed the team for the first time but kept the conversation short and light.

“I think it was just introductory,” interim coach Mike Miller said. “It was just everybody getting to know each other and that we’re all in here together.”

Still, the sense of stability and purpose was appreciated.

“He’s just here to make us better,” Kevin Knox said. “He knows we’ve been through a lot of up and down this year, coaching changes, president changes, a lot of family tragedies, but he really wants to stick with us.”