Knicks' RJ Barrett Vows to 'Get Better' After Busy Return From Injury

Barrett shot 8-of-16 through the first three frames, helping the Knicks build a lead that reached as high as 25. His struggles coincided with the hosts' apparent discomfort in maintaining that lead in the fourth quarter, as Indiana shrank the lead to as little as two. Barrett, shooting 1-of-7 in the fourth, nearly became a bit of a goat when he afforded Buddy Hield a four-point play in the dying stages, but later set up Jalen Brunson and Quentin Grimes for the clinching sequences to secure the win. 

The 2019 first-round pick chalked up his early activity to "aggresiveness" partly brought about by a lengthy absence. Led primarily by the efforts of Brunson and Julius Randle, the Knicks were able to go 4-2 sans Barrett.

“I’ve been working, I haven’t been just sitting down. Being able to go out there and my team and my teammates having confidence in me was huge for me," Barrett said, per the New York Post. "(I) could’ve had a better second half, but I’m sure as these games go along, I’ll get better.”

Barrett instead went viral for a much more joyful reason amongst Knicks fans: as Brunson, scorer of a game-best 34, was being interviewed by MSG Network's Rebecca Haarlow, Barrett briefly took the microphone to simply declare "Jalen. Brunson." which delight the Madison Square Garden faithful. 

It was perhaps an indirect thank you for Brunson picking up the frontcourt load during Barrett's absence: since returning from an injury of his own, Brunson has averaged 33.2 points over the last five games, a stretch that included consecutive career-highs at MSG. The $104 million point guard believes that Barrett is not only capable of similar exploits but will be vital as the Knicks seek to generate further distance between themselves and the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament. 

“RJ’s been working hard, he’s impatient trying to get back. He’s going to be fine,” Brunson said in the SNY report. “I have the utmost faith in him. I'm not really too worried about him, he's going to flow, he’s going to be back. He played pretty well tonight. There’s just a lot of things as a team we can do to be better.”

The Knicks return to action with Barrett and Brunson in tow on Friday night when they head to the nation's capital to battle the Washington Wizards (7 p.m. ET, MSG).