{"id":181451,"date":"2021-02-18T07:36:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T04:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/tom-thibodeau-benches-rj-barrett-in-the-fourth-quarter\/"},"modified":"2021-02-18T07:36:47","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T04:36:47","slug":"tom-thibodeau-benches-rj-barrett-in-the-fourth-quarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/tom-thibodeau-benches-rj-barrett-in-the-fourth-quarter\/","title":{"rendered":"#Tom Thibodeau benches RJ Barrett in the fourth quarter"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Tom Thibodeau benches RJ Barrett in the fourth quarter<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

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It all started against the Heat on Feb. 7, when RJ Barrett played just 19 minutes and was benched for the final 17. And that was before the Knicks acquired point guard Derrick Rose.<\/p>\n

In five of the past six game<\/a>s, Barrett has seen his minutes slide under 30 \u2014 a significant drop-off, since he was leading the league in playing time three weeks ago.<\/p>\n

The homely 107-89 loss at Orlando on Wednesday night became the most head-scratching one in the continuing reduction of Barrett\u2019s role.<\/p>\n

The third pick in the 2019 draft was playing very well and had helped the Knicks get off to a double-digit, first-quarter lead.<\/p>\n

In the win over the Hawks on Monday, Barrett hit two giant, late-game 3-pointers. But Wednesday, as the Knicks tried to mount a rally in the fourth quarter, coach Tom Thibodeau ignored Barrett. He didn\u2019t enter until minutes were left, and by then the Magic were up by 15 and it was all but over. Barrett finished with 15 points.<\/p>\n

Thibodeau explained the backcourt unit of rookie Immanuel Quickley and Alec Burks had started to revive the club and had trimmed the deficit to 10 points before Orlando roared back.<\/p>\n

\"RJ
RJ Barrett goes up for a layup during the Knicks\u2019 107-89 loss to the Magic. <\/figcaption>
AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asked about the trend of Barrett\u2019s declining time, Thibodeau said: \u201cThe depth is good. It\u2019s a plus. You get into games like tonight and it\u2019s more you\u2019re just searching. You get in a hole like we were, then you\u2019re trying to find anything that can get you going. The group that was out there got going a little bit. Ideally, you\u2019d like to be playing from the lead. I thought the starters got us off to a decent start. The defense wasn\u2019t good, but the offense was very good to start the game.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Barrett wasn\u2019t made available on a postgame Zoom call. Reporters are not permitted in the locker rooms this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can definitely do a better job of helping him out, keeping his confidence up,\u2019\u2019 Julius Randle said of Barrett. \u201cHe\u2019s always stays confident. It\u2019s one of those things got to keep learning, keep growing, see what you can do better. I\u2019ll help him out as well. He\u2019ll be fine. He\u2019ll be fine.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

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