Knicks' Evan Fournier, Cam Reddish don't know when they'll get next chance to play
Knicks guard Evan Fournier controls the ball against the Hornets in the second half of an NBA game at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 26. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
DALLAS — As the reality set in around them — Jalen Brunson on the bench in street clothes, RJ Barrett lost for the night with a laceration on his right index finger — Evan Fournier and Cam Reddish sat next to each other on the Knicks bench and wondered what many fans might have been thinking, too.
Despite both having been key rotation pieces and starters earlier this season, Fournier had not played in a game since Nov. 13 and Reddish had not gotten off the bench since December 3. And now, with the Knicks severely shorthanded, they wondered if this might be the night that they got on the floor again. But unlike fans who saw the Knicks play well, but run out of gas in a historic collapse, a 126-101 overtime defeat to the Mavericks, they had an idea of how it would play out.
“Cam and I actually talked on the bench, like, we knew,” Fournier said. “So not surprised.”
“Weird?” Reddish said, repeating the question of if it was weird to not get a chance. “Hey man, I mean, weird? Nah. Kind of what I expected . . . That’s tough every night. But like I said, that’s out of my control.”
Immanuel Quickley, pushed into the starting spot in place of Brunson, logged nearly 51 minutes — never sitting a second through the second half and overtime. Miles McBride, who subbed for Barrett just 1:36 into the game, played more than 46 minutes. Quentin Grimes played more than 48 minutes and Julius Randle was on the floor for nearly 45 minutes.
And it’s understandable why Tom Thibodeau stuck with his players on the floor. The Knicks had, even shorthanded, outplayed Dallas for much of the night, carrying a nine-point lead into the final 30 seconds — a lead that no team had ever blown in the last 20 years (ESPN Stats and Info had it 13,884-0). Thibodeau adjusted his rotation to put in a better defensive unit, and no one who sat was going to have any better shot at stopping Luka Doncic on a historic night when he became the first player in NBA history with a 60-point, 20-rebound triple-double.
But it’s also reasonable to wonder if the Knicks blow the lead if the players didn’t appear visibly gassed down the stretch. They were a step slow closing out, unable to grab key rebounds and then clanking their first seven shots in overtime. The only makes in the entire extra session came on a Mitchell Robinson tip-in and a last-second layup.
“When you get to overtime there’s going to be heavy minutes,” Thibodeau said. “So you’re matched up with who they have on the floor as well. We got to make plays. We shouldn’t be in that position. I was more concerned with how we were matched up with them. We try to match up a certain way. I thought we played well. We didn’t close out the last 30 seconds of the game.”
Thibodeau followed by saying that he wasn’t ruling out using Fournier or Reddish at some point, although even they admitted, if not Tuesday, then when?
Asked if he has had communication that he might get a chance, Fournier said, “No, but up to that point there was no reason to. JB missed his first game, something happened to RJ, so there was no reason because guys were healthy. Maybe it’s about to change. I don’t know.”
Reddish similarly has not heard anything, noting, “I’m going to be 1,000% honest with you. You probably know more about that than me. I have no idea. None."
And he insisted that this game was no different than any other since he went to the bench.
I’m just trying to stay ready, continue to work on my game and obviously just trust in God, man,” Reddish said. “I don’t have any control over, like, [stuff], so I can’t do too much thinking, or I’ll think myself into misery. You know how that goes. That’s just human nature. I just try to stay in the gym and work out and go from there.”
Fournier agreed, adding, “It’s been what, six weeks now that I’m not playing. I’ve been preaching patience. It’s starting to be a little long. But maybe there’s going to be an opportunity. I don’t know. We’ll see.”
Notes & quotes: A league source confirmed a report that RJ Barrett will be sidelined Thursday and up to a week with a lacerated right index finger suffered in the opening minute of Tuesday’s game at Dallas. Jalen Brunson is questionable with a sore right hip after missing his first game of the season Tuesday.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
