Thibodeau won his first game as Knicks head coach thanks to bounce-back efforts from Payton and RJ Barrett. Barrett went 2-for-15 in the loss to Philadelphia. Against Milwaukee, he had 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists. He made seven of his 17 attempts.
Thibodeau credited Barrett for handling the extra attention he’s seen from opposing defenses.
“You have to use their aggressiveness the way they are closing out to our team’s advantage,” he said. “He’s doing that with penetrating drives and pressure on the defense and forcing defenses to collapse. He continues to get better with rim reads and I think he can be a dynamic playmaker.”