The New York Knicks entered Saturday’s game with the Oklahoma City Thunder with a lot of question marks, but their young . With Derrick Rose out of the lineup and Austin Rivers away from the team, the Knicks’ already thin backcourt lost another piece when Elfrid Payton was ruled out – Frank Ntilikina got the start at point guard.
The Knicks got off to a slow start. The Thunder were playing without their star guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but it didn’t stop them from attacking a usually stout Knicks defense. The Knicks finished the first quarter down 31-22 with the Thunder shooting a whopping 71% from the field. It wasn’t pretty.
The 2nd quarter started like many Knicks’ 2nd quarters in 2021 – With an Immanuel Quickley explosion. Quickley seemed to find his game again and began to convert some of his signature floaters and pull-up 3s that gave the Knicks some life. The Knicks began to clamp down and find themselves in the 2nd quarter, thanks to some improved defense and strong individual play on offense from RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, and Alec Burks. The team ended the half up 56-54.
The 2nd half was a different story – It was an RJ Barrett and Julius Randle takeover.
Knicks’ RJ Barrett is emerging as a star
The Knicks found their groove as the game went on, and won by a comfortable margin of 119-97. It was a must-win game for a team who faces an increasingly difficult schedule in the coming weeks. You need your best players to step up after the team starts slow, and that’s exactly what Julius Randle and RJ Barrett did. Randle finished the game with a triple double: 26 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists, while RJ Barrett had a career high 32 points.
RJ Barrett finishes with a career-high 32 points for the Knicks (on 12-of-21 shooting, with three 3s and 7 free throws). His previous high was 28 points. This is how he got to his career-high. If you want to know what's propelling his improvement: https://t.co/C4kMWm5Eew pic.twitter.com/2ZNRHJQj3M
— Mike Vorkunov (@MikeVorkunov) March 13, 2021
Anyone who has watched the Knicks in recent weeks knows that Barrett has looked incredibly confident, but he took his game to another level on Saturday afternoon. The Knicks had multiple injuries to their backcourt, and Barrett needed to step up as a playmaker in their absence. He did exactly that – He took matters into his own hands, called out plays, and got the ball in pressure situations, and delivered. His confidence raidates off of the screen.
It wasn’t just the display on offense – Barrett was wreaking havoc as a defender all day long and finished the game with 3 steals. He’s already one of the better 2-way wings in the NBA. It’s simply been a different kind of confidence with RJ Barrett lately. The way that the team’s leader JuliusRandle embraces tough challenges has begun to rub off on Barrett.
Barrett has always had a kind of “Jack of all trades” label – Where he can do a little bit of everything, but statistically, never really showed consistent dominance in one category. Now, he’s finding his favorite spots on the floor, changing speeds when he wants, and the game just looks a lot slower for the 20-year-old. He’s playing to his strengths and becoming an elite slasher.
This team has a current All-Star in Julius Randle, but they also have a future one in RJ Barrett. This is just the beginning of a terrific career for the Maple Mamba.