Player of the Week: RJ Barrett
RJ Barrett is the inaugural Daily Knicks Player of the Week. It seems like an obvious choice as he’s had an amazing week and has been THE guy for New York this season.
The 22-year-old is averaging 19 points while dishing out 2.8 assists and grabbing 5.8 rebounds this year. There’s a general consensus that Barrett’s cementing himself as the face of the Knicks and if he plays the rest of the season the way he did this past week, that’s an argument that’ll be hard to deny.
Two clear improvements in Barrett’s game since his rookie year have been his aggressiveness and his 3-point shooting. These developments have been even more apparent in his recent play and his numbers this week reflect that.
He set a career-high in points against the Heat this week, scoring 46 points while also grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out two assists. Barrett also made six of the 11 3-pointers he attempted, putting him at 54% for the game. In addition, he went 13-for-22 from the field which is a very efficient 59%.
4️⃣ 6️⃣
— NBA (@NBA) February 26, 2022
RJ Barrett was ON FIRE dropping 30 points in the first half on his way to setting a new career-high in points with 46!@RjBarrett6: 46 PTS | 9 REB | 6 3PM pic.twitter.com/HptSwNXkei
Barrett showed no signs of slowing down against the 76ers, where he logged 24 and 30 points in the next two games, respectively. Although he went 0-for-3 from 3-point range in the first game, he went 3-for-8 in the second game bringing his total to 9-of-22 for the week.
He impacted the game in other ways as well in the two-game series against Philadelphia. In the first game, he chased down five rebounds and had six assists. In the second contest, he grabbed six rebounds and tallied seven assists.
Barrett’s clearly been impacting the game through his passing and rebounding. On top of that, he’s also one of New York’s best on-ball defenders.
Overall, his game seems to be rounding out quite nicely. Barrett’s playing the best basketball of his three-year career and the Knicks certainly need it as their season has looked bleak for quite some time. One bright spot for fans this year has been watching the growth of their franchise centerpiece and his play this week was certainly a pleasure to see.