Brotherhood Watch: RJ Barrett Is On A Roll

Former Blue Devil and current New York Knick RJ Barrett is on a real tear lately.

In his last six games, Barrett has averaged 23.3 ppg and has topped 30 points twice. He hit the game winner over Boston’s Jayson Tatum last Thursday and was dominant versus the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Barrett scored 31 on 12-20 from the field, 3-4 on threes, had three rebounds, four assists and a block and a steal.

Unfortunately, his former Duke teammate Tre Jones was not able to go for the Spurs as he’s entered the NBA’s Covid protocol.

It was a strange game in some respects. Barrett’s teammate Julius Randle has been antagonistic with Knicks fans and Monday night they gave it right back to him. It’s not a good look.

But it is a contrast that works in Barrett’s favor. Not only does he continue to work his butt off to improve, at least for now there is a villainous teammate to compare him to.

Next up for the Knicks is a visit from Dallas, featuring former Knicks Tim Hardaway Jr., Reggie Bullock, Frank Ntilinika and Kristaps Porzingis (who like Jones is in the protocol) and, a true measuring stick, Luka Doncic.

Most of Barrett’s praise from the media has been for his offense but he plays defense too. It’ll be interesting to see how he does when he has to guard Doncic.

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