RJ Barrett fired his way out of a lengthy shooting slump early last season, and the third-year swingman wasn’t concerned or deterred while mired in another skid in the four-plus games leading into the second half of Monday’s victory over Indiana.
Barrett had been 13-for-57 from the floor, including 3-for-22 from 3-point range, through halftime, before draining four of seven attempts (with three 3-pointers) in the Knicks’ second-half comeback from a 12-point deficit.
“You’re right, it’s just a matter of ‘keep working,’ ” Barrett said after Tuesday’s practice in Tarrytown. “Getting extra work in, seeing what’s going wrong.
“Maybe it’s the shot selection. Maybe it’s something that you’re doing different with your shot. Just looking at little things like that. And then the confidence comes from the team as a whole.”
Barrett similarly endured a slump in which he missed 21 consecutive attempts from long range last season. Tom Thibodeau said he believes the former Duke star has “a really good demeanor” and “a lot of mental toughness” in that regard, never getting too high nor too low emotionally depending on the level of success he’s having on the court.
“I think his experience has taught him how to work through things,” Thibodeau said of Barrett ahead of Wednesday’s home game against the Magic. “Every player is going to go through different stretches where they shoot it great, and then there’s other stretches where they don’t shoot it as well.
“You have to be able to navigate through that. And there’s a lot of other things that you can do to help the team win. So do those things, and oftentimes when you get lost in that, that’s when your rhythm comes back. So just make the right plays, make winning plays.”
Barrett and the Knicks didn’t make nearly enough of those in their last meeting with rebuilding Orlando, a 110-104 home loss on Oct. 24 following a 2-0 start. The Magic (3-11) and Saturday’s opponent — the league-worst Rockets — are a combined 4-24 on the season.
“The thing is, you can’t get to the NBA without being a great player. So everyone in this league is capable of beating you,” Thibodeau said. “So we have to come in, and we’ve already seen how Orlando is capable. They have a lot of talent, and they play hard, and we’re gonna have to be ready.”
Asked what the Knicks learned in their Garden loss to the Magic, however, center Mitchell Robinson replied bluntly, “Don’t underestimate anyone.”
“This time we’re just going to flat-out play and keep going,” he added.
“They outworked us, they played harder than us and they wanted it,” Barrett said. “So we definitely owe them. Definitely got to come in and try to outwork them [Wednesday] night.”
The 21-year-old Barrett hasn’t been the only slumping player among the team’s starting unit. Imported wing Evan Fournier has totaled just 14 points on 6-for-20 shooting over the Knicks’ past three games.
“To me, it’s like he knows who he is,” Thibodeau said. “He’s played a long time in this league.
“Again, he’s got to catch his rhythm. He made a number of good plays [Monday] … and he’ll find his way through this.”
Still, Thibodeau stuck with his second-team backcourt tandem of Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley over starters Fournier and Kemba Walker during the Knicks’ fourth-quarter comeback against the Pacers. It is a luxury he said enables him to be confident in riding the hot hand down the stretch of games.
“Throw Alec [Burks] in there, as well. They can play multiple positions, so you can mix and match going down the stretch or whatever you might need. They all have the ability to go off the dribble, so that helps,” Thibodeau said. “I think it’s the strength of the team, to be honest with you.
“And there’s not a big difference. You can make a case that the guys on the bench could be starting, and that’s the great value of having that type of bench.”