OKLAHOMA CITY — RJ Barrett was struggling again, and Immanuel Quickley was on a heater offensively.
Yet, Tom Thibodeau turned back to his starting wing and pulled the reigning Sixth Man of the Year runner-up with four minutes remaining Wednesday night and the Knicks trailing by seven.
Quickley, who finished with 22 points on 7-for-10 shooting overall and 4-of-5 from 3-point range, did not reenter until the closing seconds.
Barrett did drill a late 3-pointer, but he finished with 14 points on 5-for-14 from the floor while missing six of seven attempts from long distance.
“Like I’ve said, you’re gonna finish with different guys. It’s what the game needs,” Thibodeau explained after the Knicks lost 129-120 to the Thunder. “Sometimes, it’s matchups. Sometimes, someone’s got it going. Sometimes, you need size; you’re looking at the switching you’re doing.
“You’re asking guys to sacrifice, because you can only put five out there. And so that’s the way you roll with it. We need everyone. We need everyone to play well. So that’s what we did.”
Barrett had enjoyed a strong offensive game in Monday’s win over the Bucks (8-for-14, 21 points) following a lengthy shooting slump.
More than a week has passed since the Knicks said Jericho Sims would be reevaluated in 7-to-10 days, the reserve center still hasn’t resumed practicing with the team.
But Sims, who suffered a sprained right ankle in the first quarter against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Monday of last week, accompanied the Knicks on the road trip and “he’s doing stuff on the court,” according to Thibodeau.
“Just daily progress. So, getting better, but not quite there,” Thibodeau added.
With Mitchell Robinson (ankle surgery) also sidelined the Knicks went with a center tandem of Isaiah Hartenstein and 38-year-old veteran Taj Gibson for the fourth straight game.
Gibson finished minus-15 in just 10 minutes of action.
Knicks fans might be interested in the progress of Thunder rookie Cason Wallace, who was drafted with the No 10 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Mavericks and then shipped to OKC in a trade that brought back 12th pick Dereck Lively II.
The pick did not convey to the Knicks because it was top-10 protected, and the Mavericks tanked games at the end of the regular season to make sure they’d keep it.
Wallace, a 6-foot-3 guard out of Kentucky, scored four points in 22 minutes and is averaging 6.7 points and 21.9 minutes per game in 29 appearances off the bench.
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