New York Knicks guard RJ Barrett (9) dunks ahead of Oklahoma City Thunder guard Josh Giddey (3) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. / Alonzo Adams – USA TODAY
The Knicks rounded out their five-game road trip with a 129-119 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night. New York received some big-time contributions from up and down the line-up in the win.
Jalen Brunson led the charge with a season-high 34 points and nine assists. Julius Randle posted a double-double with 25 points and eleven rebounds and Immanuel Quickley contributed 18 points off the bench.
However, perhaps most encouraging was the performance of RJ Barrett.
It’s been a relatively frustrating start to the season for the small forward, especially of late. Heading into Monday night’s game, Barrett had shot a combined 20-for-65 over his past five games and he’d missed 24 of his last 26 three-point attempts.
Monday night was a completely different story for the 22-year-old.
Just a few days ago, head coach Tom Thibodeau suggested Barrett look to get some easy buckets to fall early on. That was the case in this one, as he started off the game with a lay-in and then slammed home a ferocious dunk en route to making his first five shots of the night.
Barrett told reporters postgame that the confidence has always been there but it was certainly fun to see the buckets falling early.
“That was fun, I was able to get a couple of easy ones, and got off to a really good start. It definitely made things easier throughout the game, yeah that was fun,” he said.
Barrett went on to finish the night shooting a stellar 10-for-16 from the field and 3-for-4 from behind the arc, with 25 points, eight rebounds, and two assists. This was the first time he topped 20 points since he scored 30 on November 11 against the Pistons.
Jalen Brunson told the MSG broadcast crew postgame the thing that has impressed him the most about Barrett is how he hasn’t lost his confidence even with these struggles.
“His mindset and his demeanor have stayed the same, you never know when he’s having an off night or a great night, that’s really telling about him. He…
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