Six takeaways from the New York Knicks opening night loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
The New York Knicks lost their opening night game in an overtime thriller 115-112 to the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite poor play from RJ Barrett and pitiful shooting from three, the Knicks rallied to a 19-point comeback, but in the end, were unable to stop Ja Morant and the Grizzlies’ offense.
Let’s explore a few takeaways after game 1 for the Knicks.
Struggles from RJ
On a nationally televised opening night game, Barrett did not do the best job of proving the doubters wrong. He shot a miserable 17% from the field and 0-6 from three. If the Knicks are going to make any noise in the NBA this season, Barrett can’t continue to have games like this.
Not only did Barrett not perform well on offense, but his defense was put into question as well. He was the primary defender on Morant the entire night land let up 34 points and nine assists. I’m not saying that Morant is an easy defensive task or that he should be expected to be stopped, but Barrett looked visibly slow trying to guard the all-star point guard.