The Knicks picked up a much-needed home victory on Tuesday night, with Julius Randle and RJ Barrett both scoring 30 points in the same game for the first time ever as teammates.
But it wasn't all positive vibes at The Garden on Tuesday, as New York's $73 million man in Evan Fournier continues to be a black hole in the starting lineup.
Fournier was awful against Indiana, scoring zero points in 22 minutes of action. Back on Friday, Fournier managed just three points in 20 minutes. Three games before that, he had just eight points in 38 minutes, shooting 2-for-13 from the floor.
Fournier missed all four shots he took on Tuesday night, and once again saw his minutes diminish in the second half, as he has often been left on the bench for nearly the entire fourth quarter for much of the season already. The team's big free agent signing of the offseason has proven to be a dreadful addition so far this season, especially when including his awful defensive play.
The Knicks were third in the NBA in defensive rating last season, and were sitting at 18th heading into Tuesday's game. That of course isn't solely on Fournier, but his awful defense replacing last year's starter in Reggie Bullock has been a drastic downgrade, and he hasn't had the offense to mask that deficiency.
The Knicks need Fournier to figure things out and find the shooting stroke that he flashed on opening night against the Celtics, but so far, he looks like a free agent bust.
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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