Getty Obi Toppin stands beside Quentin Grimes and RJ Barrett during a game between the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks.
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ith a playoff berth on the line, the New York Knicks will miss the services of starting wing RJ Barrett when they host the Washington Wizards Sunday night at Madison Square Garden.
The 22-year-old Barrett has a non-disclosed illness, the team announced hours before Sunday’s game tip-off.
RJ Barrett (illness) is out for tonight’s game against Washington.
It will be the eighth game that Barrett will miss this season. The Knicks have a 5-2 record without the former third overall pick.
Barrett is averaging 19.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.7 assists this season.
Even with Barrett joining Julius Randle (left ankle sprain), the Knicks are still favored to win against the Wizards who will be without four starters.
Bradley Beal is nursing left knee soreness while former Knick Kristaps Porzingis is out with a non-COVID illness. Beal and Porzingis are the Wizards leading scorers, averaging 23.2 points per game.
Kyle Kuzma, who averaged 30 points per game in their first three meetings with the Knicks this season, has a right ankle sprain. Starting point guard Monte Morris joined them as out for Sunday’s game with right ankle soreness after being listed questionable earlier.
Without Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, the leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate, will likely join the starting lineup.
Quickley averaged 21.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 5.0 assists in 17 games as a starter this season. The Knicks are 10-7 when Quickley starts.
All’s Well That Ends Well
Barrett is coming off a 14-point, 7-rebound effort in a 130-116 Knicks win over potential first-round playoff opponent Cleveland Cavaliers.
Barrett and Obi Toppin, who started in place of Randle, was embroiled in a heated verbal spat during the third quarter. Both players had to be separated by Knicks coaches before it escalated into a full-blown altercation during a timeout huddle.
The Knicks were leading by three, 86-83, in the third quarter when it happened. But they quickly patched things up before the play resumed.
Toppin downplayed the public spat after the game.
“We’re brothers,” Toppin said, “and we’re good. We discussed it.”
Barrett agreed.
“We’re good. We see each other basically every day,” Barrett said. “You tell me that you haven’t had an argument with a family member before. You know what I’m saying? You had an argument with a family member before. That was all it was. Right after the timeout, we squashed it. I think he scored six straight points after that, so something worked.”
New York coach Tom Thibodeau also brushed off the incident.
“The cameras are everywhere. It probably happens more than people realize,” Thibodeau said during his postgame interview. “Heat of the moment. It dissipated immediately. If there’s a flare-up, go talk to each other. When they walked out together, I knew they were fine.”
“And just move on. Win the game. When everyone wants to win, sometimes there’s a difference of opinion. Just put the team first, and that’s what they did.”
Knicks’ Playoff Scenarios
A victory against the Wizards will assure the Knicks at least a top-six finish, as the seventh-seed Miami Heat (41-27) can only get to a maximum of 45 wins if they sweep their remaining four games.
It will be the Knicks’ second postseason run in the last three seasons or since Tom Thibodeaubecame their head coach.
The magic number for the Knicks (45-33) to clinch the fifth seed is two wins or two losses by the sixth-seed Brooklyn Nets (42-35) in their last five games. In case of a tie, the Knicks hold the tiebreaker owing to winning their season series, 3-1.