RJ Barrett couldn’t wait to get back on track after his 2 or 15 brickfest Saturday against the Sixers in the home opener.
It was the perfect time for a back-to-back in Barrett’s eyes – even if it was against the Eastern Conference favorite, the Bucks.
Barrett put the Philadelphia fiasco in the rearview mirror and put forward a strong performance to match his preseason and season opener performance. In the Knicks’ 130-110 shocker over Milwaukee on Sunday, Barrett was another battering ram, scoring 17 points with eight rebounds and four assists. He was also a plus-21.
“You want to get back to court as soon as possible,” Barrett said. “I was absolutely thrilled that we had this opportunity today.”
Barrett watched a movie of the Philadelphia game where he missed his first nine shots and was not upset. The irony is that in the season opener against Indiana Barrett made his first nine shots.
“The best advice was for myself – that I had another one tomorrow,” Barrett said. ‘I’m not the only one who had a bad shooting night. I was very happy with the result. ”
Coach Tom Thibodeau said he loved Barrett’s mentality.
“Just aggressiveness,” said Thibodeau. “If you don’t take shots, you shouldn’t affect other parts of your game. He had a great first game. When you have such a game, you have attention. You have to read the game and how they play you. You have to use their aggressiveness as they conclude in favor of our team. He does so with penetrating urges and pressure on the defense and forcing the defense to collapse. “
Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo hardly enjoyed this visit to the garden and not just because the Bucks lost.
The Greek freak, who recently signed a contract extension to stay in Milwaukee for another five years, finished with 25 points, 13 rebounds and five assists.
“It doesn’t feel right – the most famous arena without an audience,” said Antetokounmpo. “When I come here I usually see 20 Greek flags, people cheering, basically the whole Greek community comes out to support me and my team. It’s always nice. The garden always has a nice energy and tonight it was empty. Hopefully it will be full next time we come to the garden. “
While Knicks-announced striker Obi Toppin will be reevaluated in 7-10 days, Thibodeau sounded like their rookie lottery pick could be as much as two weeks with a calf tension – if not longer.
Toppin exacerbated a previously undisclosed calf injury in the season opener, Thibodeau said. Due to the rehabilitation process, Toppin was unable to put any pressure on his leg for a week, which affects his condition. Toppin will no longer practice in 2020.
“If you miss that kind of time, with that kind of injury, there will be a period where he gets back up to speed in terms of playing,” said Thibodeau. “And it is clear that you cannot run or jump with a calf, so the conditioning component plays a part in that.”
It should be noted that the last time a Knicks rookie hitched a calf it wasn’t right. Allonzo Trier, in 2018/19, finished the last 3½ weeks of his rookie season with a calf tension. Toppin missed his second game in a row on Sunday. Between now and January 11, the Knicks will play eight more games. That could mean that Toppin is missing a total of 10 games.
Austin Rivers, the signed free agent, is expected to undergo his first contact training on Monday. He missed all four preseason games with a groin cramp and almost the entire training camp.
Thibodeau said he plans to keep him back in rotation, according to sources, when he’s healthy. … Point guard Dennis Smith Jr., who didn’t look very inspiring in his 17-minute season debut on Saturday, missed Sunday’s game with a bruised quad.