With seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night, Tom Thibodeau called on Immanuel Quickley to replace RJ Barrett, the team’s former No. 3 overall pick who just signed a $107 million contract extension.
Barrett never reentered the game. Not for the rest of the fourth quarter, and not for a single second of the overtime period in an eventual loss to the Lakers.
Barrett had been struggling from the floor in Tuesday’s game, shooting 5-for-13, but he typically is brought back in before the end of the game, only on Tuesday, that call from Thibodeau never came.
And Barrett was clearly not happy with the decision.
“I have nothing to say,” Barrett said, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News, as he left the locker room on Tuesday.
Barrett had a strong game against Brooklyn on Saturday, but struggled from the floor against the Celtics in the game prior, despite hitting one of the team’s biggest shots of the season that night. But overall, his defense hasn’t always been there, while Quickley has been one of the team’s most valuable contributors this season, including on the defensive end. Ultimately, Thibodeau elected to ride with what he felt was working, which included a backcourt of Quickley and Jalen Brunson, which helped force overtime after the team was trailing by five when Barrett was subbed out.
“We were just looking for our group to get going,” Thibodeau said. “The group that was out there was what we went with.”
Follow Ryan Chichester on Twitter: @ryanchichester1
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