NEW YORK — The Knicks have had issues closing games this season. But certainly not on Friday in a gritty comeback victory.
RJ Barrett was the hero in the Knicks’ 133-129 overtime win over the Grizzlies, a game the Knicks trailed throughout but came alive just in time. Barrett, riding a hot streak, sent the game into overtime with five points in the final 40 seconds of regulation, including the tying free throws with 8.8 seconds left. In overtime, Barrett, who finished with 20 points, knocked down the go-ahead trey with 1:15 left.
The Knicks (26-27) never again trailed and snapped a two-game losing streak.
Still, they were lucky Friday. The Grizzlies outplayed and outpaced the Knicks. They missed 13 free throws and Ja Morant (26 points) somehow flubbed a wide-open potential game-winner from about four feet away in regulation.
The Knicks will take it, though. Their star, Julius Randle, finished with a triple-double (15 points, 11 assists, 10 rebounds) but struggled with fouls and missed shots. He didn’t hit a field goal until late in the third quarter, continuing a funk that started last month. In his seven games before Friday, Randle shot just 40% — including just 31% from beyond the arc — while averaging 3.7 turnovers. He was crashing back down to earth.
Barrett picked up his teammate against the Grizzlies (26-24), who were riding an impressive four-game winning streak with road victories in Miami and Philadelphia. Barrett finished with 20 points on 7-of-13 shooting, despite having just two points in the first half. He got the symbolic victory over Morant, the player drafted immediately ahead of Barrett in 2019.
“My game speaks for itself. I mean you can look at our numbers, you can look at our team’s success,” Barrett said. “It doesn’t really matter, as long as I keep getting better as a player I’ll be happy.”
Barrett’s improved 3-pointer — he hit 2 of 4 on Friday — continued to fuel his ascension this season.
“Obviously over the summer you make a little tweak, make little adjustments (on the shot),” Barrett said. “But I’ve just been getting reps and all credit to my teammates. You see Julius gets in there, sometimes he’s halfway into his shot, kicks it out, I’m getting wide open shots, wide open looks. You get wide open looks from your teammates, it’s kind of like practice.”
It was an unconventional rotation for the Knicks at the start. Randle struggled early and picked up two early fouls. He and Barrett combined for just one field goal in the first half. The Knicks were fortunate to enter the break trailing by only nine. They trailed by as many as 15 in the first quarter. But the bench kept the Knicks afloat, with Derrick Rose (19 points), Alec Burks (19) and Immanuel Quickley (20) combining for 58 points.
