RJ Barrett, sometimes keen and interesting with the media, misplaced his want to speak after getting benched for the ultimate 12 minutes of Tuesday’s loss to the Lakers, together with the whole lot of extra time.
“I have nothing to say,” the 22-year-old stated as he walked out of the locker room.
Minutes earlier, Barrett advised teammate Cam Reddish to reaffirm out loud that it wasn’t a good suggestion for him to talk. The insinuation from Barrett was that he’d say one thing regrettable, or controversial.
So it’s secure to imagine Barrett was upset about his stunning benching throughout a marquee sport on nationwide tv. A yr prior, he performed 50 minutes with 36 factors in an extra time loss to the Lakers. On Tuesday? Twenty-seven minutes with 13 factors.
The Knicks have a model of a Big-3, and Barrett is a member — though more and more forged because the third wheel, the Chris Bosh. In latest video games, coach Tom Thibodeau gave extra crunch-time alternatives to Immanuel Quickley, with Barrett practically all the time being subbed again in earlier than the ultimate buzzer.
Not on Tuesday.
Barrett was eliminated for good with about seven minutes remaining within the fourth quarter and the Knicks trailing by 5. Thanks to Jalen Brunson, the Knicks compelled extra time however had been overwhelmed down the stretch by LeBron James.
Brunson and Quickley had been nice. Julius Randle was not. Tom Thibodeau additionally used defensive specialist Quentin Grimes over Barrett.
“We were just looking for a group to get going,” the coach stated when requested about Barrett staying on the bench. “So the group that was out there was what we went with.”
That’s not a lot of a proof from Thibodoeau, who left unsaid that Barrett struggled whereas lacking 8 of his 13 shot makes an attempt. The benching would’ve been ignored, or a minimum of changed into a distant sidebar, had the Knicks gained at MSG.
Instead, Randle blew their finest alternative by dribbling right into a double-team and failing to get a possible game-winning shot off on the finish of regulation. The Knicks misplaced in OT, 129-123, falling two video games out of a assured playoff spot.
“I was trying to attack the basket. But [LeBron and Anthony Davis] collapsed,” Randle stated. “And I didn’t have much time to get anything off.”
It’s simple to forged off Barrett’s benching as a one-off anomaly, and that’s the place it’ll pattern if he’s taking part in in crunch time Thursday in opposition to the Heat. But the Lakers sport was additionally the primary time Thibodeau benched considered one of his top-3 gamers for an prolonged interval in extra time. Barrett’s web score, in the meantime, fell to the worst among the many seven Knicks gamers with a minimum of 600 minutes performed.
The greater image is the Knicks gave Barrett a $107 million extension that doesn’t begin till subsequent season. His deal carries a poison tablet provision that makes it troublesome to commerce Barrett till July, however the Knicks have been rumored to covet one other 6-7 wing for this month’s commerce deadline — OG Anunoby — who would require a number of first-round picks to pry out of Toronto.
The benching, and Barrett’s clear frustration within the aftermath, was considerably eye-opening Tuesday, even when he didn’t need to speak about it.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com