46 Not Enough For RJ In Loss To Heat
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
By Derrel Jazz Johnson
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
RJ Barrett scored a career-high 46 against the Miami Heat last night at MSG, but despite a spirited effort, Miami defeated the Knicks 115-100.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau discussed the performance of Barrett. “He had a great month last month, playing great basketball,” Thibodeau said. “Picked up, played very aggressively. It’s a good sign he’s growing. It’s great. Downhill, tapping the basket, shooting the ball, shot the ball at the three, opened up the drive, all-around play. Very good, very good.”
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Barrett evaluated his performance.
“I kind of feel like I spoke it into existence,” Barrett said. “Teammates made it easy like Julius had a couple where I feel like he could have scored and he kicked it to me. I had one three in the corner where he kicked it to me and that one really feels like it got me going in the game today. So, you know I had a couple of those and my teammates made extra passes. AB [Alec Burks] hit me top of the key and I was able to get downhill.”
The loss of the game was not the only loss suffered by the team. Rookie Quentin Grimes suffered a subluxation of the right patella. Said Thibodeau of the injury.
“He’s played really well, it’s unfortunate,” he remarked. “He’s put a lot of work into it. Hopefully, when we’re updated, it’s nothing serious.”
Miami improved their record to 39-21 while the Knicks fell 10 games under 500 at 25-35.
New York host the Philadelphia 76ers and newly acquired James Harden Sunday afternoon. Harden scored 27 points, 12 assists and 8 rebounds in his debut Friday in the 133-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article.
