Barrett snaps out of shooting funk
It can be a gift and a curse. RJ Barrett doesn’t let shooting slumps get to him. He’s too self-confident for that, too much of a believer in his abilities to second-guess himself.
So despite shooting 6-for-25 in the first two games of this best-of- seven, opening-round series, nothing changed for Barrett.
“I’m gonna shoot,” he said rather matter-of-factly.
The Knicks are glad he did Friday night.
Barrett snapped out of his shooting slump in a major way, producing 19 points in the Knicks’ dominant 99-79 Game 3 victory at a raucous Garden that gave them a 2-1 series lead. Barrett hit eight of 12 shots from the field, to go along with eight rebounds and three assists, the kind of production the Knicks sorely needed in support of co-stars Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle.
“He played fabulous. It’s a part of the game, when the ball’s not going through the hoop,” Brunson said. “RJ’s the type of person that always bounces back. You can never tell his demeanor, not too high, too low and he’s just always has that mindset that he’s going to come back the next day and be better.”
Barrett had been working on his shot. And felt it starting to come back this week. That feeling carried over to Friday.
While everyone else was ice cold, building a proverbial house with the bricks they were throwing up, Barrett was keeping the Knicks in the game in the early going. In an ugly first quarter in which his teammates shot 2-of-17 from the field, he hit 4-of-6 shots including a pair of 3-pointers. By halftime, he was the team’s scoring leader with 14 points, helping them build a 13point lead.
“Felt good to be able to contribute in a positive way, like I said, to a win,” said Barrett, who posted a plus-10 rating in 31 strong minutes.
Barrett didn’t force the issue. When shots presented themselves, he didn’t hesitate. He was able to work his way into the paint, but was also aware of the Cavaliers’ two rim protectors, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, making quality reads to create shots for his teammates.
“I think the big thing is his floor game in Game 1, I thought, was outstanding. Six assists and four steals,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He didn’t shoot well, but the thing about RJ is he’s very steady. He doesn’t get rattled. And then I thought he was real aggressive today. We gotta get him into the open floor. When we do that, he’s gonna make shots. [When] he gets downhill, he’s tough to guard.”