R.J. Barrett had some trouble shooting free throws this season, so he figured the one he deliberately tried to miss found nothing but the net.
Barrett tried to clack once off the strip and the Knicks were two behind with 2.6 seconds left to get a chance on the offensive rebound, but his swing resulted in two crucial free throws from Kevin Durant on the other end, giving a KD of 53 points. The Nets won 110-107 Sunday at the Barclays Center.
“My teammates laughed at me because I tried to miss and it ended up being the perfect free kick. I was trying to miss,” said Barrett, who is shooting 70.3% from the line this season. “I was trying to shoot fast to hit the front rim and Mitch [Robinson} could try to grab it. But it went in.”
RJ BarrettAP
And so ended the Knicks’ fourth loss in seven games on their now-completed road trip, with rough defeats in which they also blew second-half leads against playoff-bound teams in Philadelphia, Phoenix and Memphis. Those wasted close calls left Tom Thibodeau’s team 28-40 overall with 14 games to play, and five full games behind Charlotte and Atlanta for the last two play-in spots in the Eastern Conference, before the Hawks’ home game Sunday night against Indiana.
“Slim, obviously, the odds are against us,” said Evan Fournier, who connected on 5-for-8 from 3-point distance and finished with 25 points. “But that’s exactly what I mean. I think we aren’t looking at the schedule or the [standings]and we just play one game after another, trying to be in the moment and trying to make the most of the opportunities. … But we need every game, and that’s why losing those games is frustrating.”
Thibodeau praised Fournier’s “very good all-around play”, but the veteran guard also made a critical one-possession loss ahead of Barrett’s unplanned free throw. The Knicks came out of the announced timeout with 13.4 seconds left and the Nets were ahead, 106-105, but Fournier’s pick-and-roll pass meant for an open Robinson inside was deflected by Brooklyn’s Bruce Brown to Durant. who was fouled and also emptied. both free throws in that sequence.
“I had an easy pass, I made a mistake. It’s so easy,” Fournier said. “If we make this pass, it’s a dunk, we’re one more. Nothing more to say, really. Bad pass.”
Julius Randle hits the basket. Robert Sabo
And with that, there’s nothing to say about the Knicks’ remaining schedule in what turned out to be a discarded season following last year’s playoff run.
“Just try to keep winning. You never know,” Barrett said. “Other teams can keep losing too. So you don’t know what will happen. … This is the NBA.
“Sometimes things happen. We’re playing amazing basketball after the All-Star break. I always go back to that Phoenix game, I feel like we definitely should have done it. It’s just that all you can do is play good basketball and try to close those games at the end of the fourth. That’s what we’re going to do in every game.”