2 things Knicks fans need to watch for in epic UNC-Duke Final Four game

On Thursday evening, the New York Knicks were officially eliminated from the playoffs. New York has five games left to play to wrap up the 2021-22 season, including a back-to-back this weekend, but there are also two other important matchups taking place on Saturday in the Final Four.

There are two players on the Knicks roster in particular that will be extra invested in what will go down as the most legendary college basketball game of all-time – No. 2 Duke vs. No. 8 North Carolina.

RJ Barrett and Cam Reddish (who’s out for the year) won’t be preoccupied with New York’s game, given that it’s going to happen in the early afternoon.

If there’s one thing that those two former Blue Devils want, it’s to see Mike Krzyzewski wrap up his legendary career with a national championship on Monday night.

You don’t have to be associated with either school to appreciate the fact that the stars aligned just right so that we all can witness college basketball at its best.

As Knicks fans, there are a couple of things in particular that you need to keep your eye on. At the very least, we owe it to Barrett and Reddish to tune in.

2 things Knicks fans must pay attention to during UNC-Duke Final Four game

2: Point guard play

This shouldn’t come as a surprise. We’ve all unfortunately witnessed New York’s point guard travesty in some form over the past two decades. However, that won’t be the case on Saturday night for the Tar Heels or Blue Devils.

If that isn’t enough to catch your attention, North Carolina’s R.J. Davis will. The sophomore point guard is from White Plains, N.Y., less than an hour away from Madison Square Garden.

Davis is averaging 13.4 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.7 assists in 37 games. He’s shooting 42.9% from the field and 37.4% from the 3-point line. He’s made a huge jump from starting in 10 games last season, to starting in every game that the Tar Heels have played in this year.

In North Carolina’s 93-86 overtime win over No. 1 Baylor on Mar. 19 in the second round of the tournament, Davis scored a career-high 30 points (8-of-17 from the floor, 5-of-10 from three) and shot 9-of-10 from the free-throw line.

For the majority of the past two seasons, Davis has shared point guard duties with sophomore Caleb Love, but as of recently, it’s been Davis who’s been leading the Tar Heels.

Sophomore Jeremy Roach is Duke’s starting point guard and he was recently named to the West Region All-Tournament Team. Out of the 38 games that the Blue Devils have played in, he’s only started in 26 of those, but he’s emerged as the point guard that Coach K’s offense was missing.

In Duke’s narrow 78-73 victory over No. 3 Texas Tech on Mar. 24, the Virginia native finished with 15 points (7-of-11), five assists, and four rebounds. He orchestrated a 7-0 run in the final minutes of the game to help give Coach K his 100th March Madness victory.

Roach has fully arrived on the scene at the right time. As Duke meets up with UNC for the third time this year, it’s going to be yet another battle that consists of an elite backcourt on both ends.

1: AJ Griffin

When you think about the Blue Devils’ current roster, the first player that comes to mind is likely first-year forward Paolo Banchero. He was already considered to be a lottery pick for the 2022 draft, but he’s upped his draft stock in recent weeks and could go No. 1 overall.

In ESPN’s most recent mock draft (subscription required) that was put out on Mar. 28, Banchero was slotted to go No. 2 overall to Houston, while Duke’s other first-year forward, AJ Griffin, went No. 8 overall to San Antonio.

Three picks later, ESPN had the Knicks selecting Dyson Daniels from the G League Ignite with the No. 11 pick.

Banchero’s going to be off the board by the time that New York makes its selection, but there’s a chance that Griffin won’t be. In his first season, six-foot-six Griffin is averaging 10.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 38 games (24 starts). He’s shooting 50.2% from the field and 45.8% from the 3-point line.

His best game of the tournament was the Blue Devils’ most recent, a 78-69 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks on Mar. 26. Griffin had 18 points (7-of-9 from the floor, 2-of-3 from three) and three rebounds, one block, and one steal in 26 minutes.

Remember what happened the last time that the Knicks drafted a Duke player with their lottery pick? That same magic could carry over to Griffin.

Saturday’s an exciting day for basketball fans, and hopefully, the afternoon will start with a win for New York before the Tar Heels and Blue Devils showdown in New Orleans at 8:49 p.m. ET on TBS.

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