It was a memorable night of basketball for R.J. Barrett of Toronto, Ontario on Thursday. The third-year small forward had the game winning basket in a 108-105 New York Knicks win over the Boston Celtics at Madison Square Garden.
Barrett made a shot from a very awkward angle with no time left on the clock from Alec Burks of Grandview, Missouri. Barrett was falling as he took the shot, and was well defended by Jayson Tatum of the Celtics.
It was also a terrific comeback by New York on Thursday. The Knicks were once down 81-61 with five minutes and 33 seconds left in the third quarter, before they outscored the Celtics 47-24 in the final 17 minutes and 33 seconds of action.
Barrett actually did not play all that well. He only made four of 15 shots for a .267 field goal percentage. However the fact that Barrett had 13 total points was a satisfactory total in the grand scheme of things.
With the win, the Knicks improved to a win of 19 wins and 20 losses, while the Celtics dropped to 18 wins and 21 losses. In other Canadian basketball news, the Toronto Raptors are now at 18 wins and 17 losses, after a four-game winning streak. During the streak, the Raptors beat the Los Angeles Clippers 116-108 on New Year’s Eve, the Knicks 120-105 on January 2, the San Antonio Spurs 129-104 on January 4, and the Milwaukee Bucks 117-111 on January 5. Meanwhile the Canadian National Women’s Basketball team has named Victor Lapena of Spain as their new head coach.
