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RJ Barrett's shooting woes have continued to add up. This week, he and the New York Knicks returned from a highly anticipated three-day Thanksgiving break to face the Portland Trailblazers. The game didn't go their way. They ultimately lost the contest 132-129. RJ Barrett went just 6-22 from the field in the overtime loss. To make matters worse, he shot just 1-7 from the 3-point line.
It marked the latest string in a series of bad nights from the field for the former FIBA U19 World Cup MVP. Over the course of this month, the team has gone just 6-7, splitting wins and losses over the course of the past week. With the team currently sitting in ninth place in the Eastern Conference, RJ Barrett's shooting struggles have been a major talking point.
This season, Barrett is averaging a career-low 26.4% from beyond the arc. In addition, he's also averaging a career-low 39.4% from the field. To put that in perspective, although Barrett had a 40.8% field goal percentage last season, the year before, he averaged 44.1% from the floor.
After the team's loss to the Blazers, Barrett spoke to media members about his ongoing struggles from the floor. He made no excuses:
“They’ve got to [fall] at some point,” Barrett said.
You can see highlights from the back-and-forth game between the Knicks and the Blazers below.
RJ Barrett & the New York Knicks' loss to the Blazers
As Barrett touched on post-game, the Blazers shot a whopping 51 free throws over the course of regulation and overtime. On the flip side of things, the Knicks shot just 28. Although they statistically shot a better percentage from the line than Portland did, the Blazers still wound up making 38 free throws, 14 more than the Knicks.
After the game, head coach Tom Thibodeau also mentioned how many free throws the Blazers took, saying:
“The free throws were the big thing. We had the lead, and then because we’re stopping the clock, we took the rhythm out of the game. Can’t do that. We have to be disciplined.”
Despite that, he believes the team was responsible for failing to adjust to the frequent stoppage in play. He continued, saying:
“We have to adjust to how the game is being called. Sometimes it’s going to be tight; sometimes it’s not as tight. But we can’t keep repeating. If they’re calling it that way, we have to adjust.”
With RJ Barrett struggling with his efficiency and the team struggling to pull themselves up the ladder in the Eastern Conference, the pressure is mounting. On Sunday night, the team will host the Memphis Grizzlies, who are currently tied for third in the Western Conference.
Currently, the Knicks have the 13th toughest remaining schedule in the league. This means things aren't going to get any easier for them as the season progresses. Given that, the team hopes Derrick Rose and Cam Reddish can return to the floor as soon as possible.
