RJ Barrett on target in Knicks' win over Pacers
Knicks guard RJ Barrett looks toward the basket as he makes a move during the second half of an NBA game against the Pacers in Indianapolis on Saturday. Credit: AP/Doug McSchooler
When the game against the Raptors ended in Tampa on Thursday night, RJ Barrett returned to the court for about an hour of extra shooting. He got shots up Friday before flying to Indiana and was back for extra work again after the morning shootaround Saturday.
Though Barrett has attempted plenty of shots in games, making them has been a different story. It was one that he was determined to change as the Knicks returned to Indiana, the last place he made a three-point field goal — in the season opener.
Maybe it was the cozy environs of Bankers Life Fieldhouse, but after missing his previous 21 three-point attempts, Barrett was back in his comfort zone, hitting his first two attempts from beyond the arc Saturday night. He finished with 25 points — shooting 4-for-5 from three-point range — as the Knicks escaped with a 106-102 win over the Pacers.
But it wasn’t only Barrett who was back on track. The Knicks as a team were awful Thursday, shooting 3-for-36 from three-point range. On this night, the three-pointers fell again — but they didn’t rely on them.
Mitchell Robinson scored 16 points and shot 8-for-10, none from more than a few inches from the rim. And maybe most of all, it was the defense that coach Tom Thibodeau has been preaching that delivered the win.
Julius Randle, on a quiet offensive night, stole a pass by Malcolm Brogdon (33 points) with 1:34 left and drove in for a breakaway dunk. Robinson then blocked Brogdon’s three-pointer, flipping it ahead to set up a layup by Austin Rivers that gave the Knicks a six-point lead with 35 seconds remaining.
Domantas Sabonis had only 13 points and eight field-goal attempts after being hounded by Randle much of the night.
"That’s what it’s about," said Randle, who had 12 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. "Whatever we’ve got to do to get wins, that’s the only thing that matters. So we did a great job of getting stops down the stretch and on the offensive end, just playing for each other."
"He’s a tough, tough matchup that took a lot of energy from him," Thibodeau said of Randle’s defense on Sabonis. "A guy like that you can’t guard individually. You have to guard with your whole team. I thought our team gave the appropriate help. He put a lot of pressure on us. It was great to come in here and get a win. This team is playing as well as anyone in the league.
"They’ve got a lot of weapons. They can hurt you off the dribble. Brogdon had a huge game. [Myles] Turner hurt us with the threes. I thought overall, our defense was really good. The rebounding, the effort. It’s hard to win on the road. It’s a good, solid win for us. The thing that I liked the best is we showed improvement from that first game that we played out here."
Victor Oladipo drove and scored over Robinson, then fed Sabonis cutting through the lane to give Indiana a 96-93 lead. But another dunk by Robinson and a three-pointer by Rivers put the Knicks in front again with 3:23 remaining.
Elfrid Payton had 19 points, eight rebounds and five assists and Rivers scored 15 points.
Barrett started off the season by hitting his first nine shots in that season-opening game, going 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half. But since then, he had gone 0-for-21 from three-point range.
"I shot after the game. I spent some time shooting yesterday and today," Barrett said. "Just trying to get my groove back, to get back in it. I’m sure I’ll be good. I’m going to keep shooting them. I’m getting open shots. I’ve just got to knock them down."
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.
