RJ Barrett Busy, But New York Knicks Bitten By Minnesota Timberwolves In Preseason Tilt
Despite some decent progress, the New York Knicks couldn't label their second preseason game "Minnesota nice."
New York showcased its starters on a wider basis in part two of its four-game preseason set, but that wasn't enough to stop the Minnesota Timberwolves and their prospects, who took a 121-112 decision at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night.
RJ Barrett led the way for the Knicks with 23 points in 26 minutes. With the exception of Jalen Brunson (14 minutes), every regular New York starter played at least 20 minutes.
Julius Randle had only seven but pulled in eight rebounds and dished out seven assists. Mitchell Robinson pulled in seven boards while Brunson once again kept busy in another cameo: though he was 1-of-5 from the field, the primary point guard was perfect on seven free throw attempts and had four helpers. The Knicks (1-1) were also a plus-15 on the scoreboard when he was on the floor.
RJ Barrett (center) had a busy Saturday night for the Knicks
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It was Barrett, however, who stole the show in the early going, scoring half of the Knicks' 30 points on a 4-of-6 output from the field in the opening frame en route to a two-point lead. Minnesota cracked down in the latter stages and allowed Barrett to hit just 2-of-9 over the final three but he kept pace with his 80 percent from the foul line goal by hitting 9-of-12. Combined with Monday's perfect 9-of-9, he's shooting over 85 percent over the preseason pair.
Reserves Evan Fournier and Miles McBride lit it up from deep to take advantage of rare opportunities on MSG hardwood. Fournier was 6-of-10 from the field with four rebounds while McBride was a flawless 6-of-6, all but two of those tries coming from three-point range. The relief duo united to sink seven of the Knicks' 13 successful triples, shooting just over 37 percent with an extra point on the line.
New Jersey native Naz Reid flourished off the bench for Minnesota, leading the Timberwolves (3-0) with 22 points in relief. Starters Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns put up 17 each. Trigger-happy preseason participants defined the day, as the Wolves tried 48 shots from deep, including 29 in the first half alone. They found a sense of consistency as the Knicks started to drift their starters away from the floor, hitting 10-of-19 over the latter 24. Reid was 5-of-8 from deep while Towns hit 4-of-8.
New York and Minnesota have two meetings scheduled for the regular season, the first landing on Nov. 24 in Minneapolis.
The Knicks will play their lone road game of the preseason on Tuesday night against the Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG), the first half of an unusual early fall back-to-back that will close out the exhibition slate.
