SummerKnicks 103, SummerWizards 87: Scenes from RJ Barrett’s Vegas masterpiece

The Knicks and first-round pick RJ Barrett capped off their 2019 Las Vegas Summer League campaign with an impressive 103-87 win over the Washington Wizards.

Yeah, we gotta start with RJ. He dominated the Wiz on the scoreboard to the tune of 21 points (including an efficient 7-13 shooting), 10 assists and eight rebounds. His game was about more than just the numbers, though — and this is coming from a noted critic who accused RJ of stat-padding while at Duke. The Knicks played like a well-oiled machine when RJ had the ball and fell apart when he was on the bench. He knifed through the defense, getting layups, drawing fouls and dropping the shiniest of dimes. He could’ve had four or five more assists, as some of his scrub teammates blew golden scoring opportunities off RJ passes. Following three games of struggle (and a fourth game where he played much better, even if his shooting didn’t come around) it was like RJ saw through the Matrix this afternoon. And it was glorious.

Pretty much all the other real Knicks had good games, including Ignas Brazdeikis (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Mitchell Robinson (18 points, 9 rebounds, 3 block), who combined for this taste of sweetness.

But RJ stole the show. The Knicks were his team Saturday.

Stingy will have the recap. Stay rested, folks.