Knicks' RJ Barrett delivers 27 points and a message
The Knicks' RJ Barrett gets past the Magic's Robin Lopez, right, for a basket during the first half of an NBA game Sunday in Orlando, Fla. Credit: AP/John Raoux
ORLANDO, Fla. — RJ Barrett already had done his part, piling up 24 of his 27 points in three quarters Sunday. The Knicks led by 32 when he wandered past the press table near the Knicks’ bench and implored the media to “write something good.”
He mostly spent the fourth quarter of their 118-88 win over the Magic trying to get Obi Toppin to stop urging the crowd to chant Barrett’s name, but it wasn’t easy. It felt like a home game, with Knicks jerseys and chants outnumbering and overwhelming the home crowd at the Amway Center.
For Barrett, this is almost a home game. He attended high school at nearby Montverde Academy and his younger brother is at the school now. And that meant he had an extra-vocal group of supporters on hand.
“My old coaches were at the game,” Barrett said. “My little brother, who’s a senior at Montverde, he was here. It’s a lot of love. I do love this place. One of the stops along my journey I hold dear to my heart. I always love coming back to Orlando.”
Toppin scored 20 points for the second straight game. A 50-15 run gave the Knicks (35-44) a 94-60 lead. They have won 10 of their last 16.
Kids are back
A youth movement through the final days of the season got a little easier Sunday with the return to the lineup of rookies Quentin Grimes and Miles McBride.
McBride missed Saturday’s game with a sore right knee but came off the bench Sunday. Grimes missed nine games after suffering a subluxation of the right patella, returned for five games and then sat out the last four. Grimes played 16 minutes and McBride 11.
Coming soon?
Feron Hunt, who was signed to a two-way contract March 18 and has been playing for Westchester in the G League, could be available for the Knicks soon. Hunt was with Dallas and New Orleans this season but never got in an NBA game. With West-chester’s season over, the 22-year-old wing could get time with the Knicks.
“I haven’t talked to Leon [Rose] and [William Wesley] and Scott [Perry], but I’m open to all that stuff,” Tom Thibodeau said. “We like who he is, so I want to get a chance to see him as well. I haven’t had an opportunity to watch him a lot. I’ve seen a little bit, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard and what I’ve seen in the reports. This summer, the offseason will be important.”
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.
