Stephen A. Smith had assessed RJ Barrett’s first two games of the New York Knicks’ first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers and has come to the conclusion that the former No. 3 overall pick isn’t ready for this type of challenge.
During Wednesday’s edition of First Take, where JJ Redick had some things to say about the referees of the Warriors vs. Kings series, Smith also shared a strong opinion on the New York Knicks player.
“RJ Barrett, he might need to sit down for this series. Every series ain’t for everybody. The great ones, the really, really good ones, they can play in any series, but there are others– you just don’t have that kind of game. And you’ve evaluated RJ perfectly, but in this series, he don’t need to be seeing the floor. He ain’t made for this series. He just don’t have that kind of game. Not yet.”
This comes after the Cleveland Cavaliers, and especially Darius Garland, dominated Barrett. The Cavs’ guard went off, dropping 32 points on the Knicks, including 26 points in the first half, joining Kyrie Irving and LeBron James as the only Cavaliers players to score 25+ points in a half.
It was a fun night for Garland, who admitted he didn’t have the best performance in Game 1 and tried to be more aggressive.
As for Barrett, he had a terrible night, only scoring 14 points, shooting 4-13 from the field and 0-3 from beyond the arc. He couldn’t help Julius Randle and Jalen Brunson, and the Knicks saw how the Cavs easily won this game, 107-90, tying the series with one win per team.
Knicks Couldn’t Keep Up Against Cavaliers In Game 2
The Cavaliers made a statement with this victory. They were more physical and more aggressive, and the Knicks didn’t have an answer to that. There were some controversial moments, including Jarrett Allen committing a flagrant foul on Julius Randle, but that showed that this team wasn’t losing this game.
Now the series is moving to Madison Square Garden, where Barrett, Randle, Brunson, and co. expect to have better performances. Perhaps RJ can change Stephen A.’s mind with a couple of good games, but that remains to be seen.
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