NEW YORK — In the weeks leading up to Thursday’s naming of the NBA all-star reserves every question to Tom Thibodeau about the case to be made for Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson would be answered, but with an addendum, the Knicks coach adding a third name into the list of players on the team deserving of consideration.
RJ Barrett.
But on a night when Randle was named an Eastern Conference All-Star reserve and Brunson was absent with a non-COVID illness and snubbed by the coaches voting for the bench players, Barrett was drawing attention for something completely different — being left on the bench two nights earlier for the final 11:51 of action and then continuing his no-show by refusing to speak after the game.
And on this night, maybe because of all that it was oddest that it was Barrett who came up big for the Knicks when they needed him. Barrett finished with 30 points, eight rebounds and four assists as the Knicks held off the Heat, 106-104, at Madison Square Garden.
It wasn’t without plenty of nervous moments and sloppy play down the stretch, but the Knicks were able to hold on and gain a game on the Heat and are one game back of Miami for the sixth spot in the Eastern Conference standings.
Randle with 19 of his 23 points in the first half and 10 rebounds picked up some of the slack with Brunson sidelined.
After trailing by 11 midway in the fourth quarter, the Heat pulled within three and after Barrett hit one of two from the line Miami continued to draw closer as Bam Adebayo closed the gap to 95-93 with 2:50 left. Barrett drove through the Miami defense for a layup but Jimmy Butler answered. Randle then fired a pass out to Quentin Grimes for a three-point field goal and a 100-95 lead with 1:50 remaining.
The teams continued to trade baskets with Tyler Herro hitting a short jumper and Barrett driving again, putting up a shot that hit the backboard before Adebayo blocked it for goaltending and a 102-97 Knicks lead with 1:23 to play. The Knicks struggled to shake the Heat as Herro answered again with a 17-foot jumper. Barrett nearly lost the ball, but it was out off of Miami and the Knicks called time with 56 seconds left and nine seconds on the 24-second clock.
Barrett attempted to float an inbound pass to Randle, but Adebayo reached over him, stealing it and heading down for a fast break, drawing a foul on Randle and hitting two free throws to cut the margin to 102-101.
But Barrett, running the offense from the top found Grimes, who quickly fed Isaiah Hartenstein cutting along the baseline for a dunk with 33.5 seconds left. Adebayo then stole another Barrett pass, but this time Hartenstein stole the ball back and the Knicks swung it around, avoiding Miami’s efforts to foul, and Randle slammed in an uncontested dunk with 5.2 seconds left, putting the Knicks up five and seemingly in control.
Max Strus hit a three with 2.1 seconds left and the Knicks called their final timeout, up two. A pass out to Randle near midcourt caused him to stumble, falling backward. A foul was originally called on Adebayo, but replays clearly showed that there was no contact and a coach’s challenge was ruled successful, giving Miami the ball.
Herro got the ball in the corner and got off a clean look for a potential game-winning three as Randle and Barrett raced toward him, but it bounded off the rim as time expired.
Thibodeau dismissed the benching of Barrett against the Lakers as simply a case of going with the group that was playing well. And Thursday he said there was no need to talk to Barrett about the situation.
“No, just come in and get ready the next day,” Thibodeau said. “We know he’s a critical part of our team. We need him to play well. But we’re always going to put the team first and we thought the group that was out there gave us the best shot. Most of the times he’s finishing the game, so just get out there and play. I don’t worry about missed shots as much as just help in any way you can.”
