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New York Knicks‘ RJ Barrett watched from the bench in the entire second half as the Karl Anthony-Towns-led Dominican Republic beat Canada 94-88 on Friday in Granada, Spain in their final exhibition game leading to the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
Canada coach Jordi Fernández decided to rest Barrett and the rest of his starters after the opening half following back-to-back overtime victories and to get a closer look at his reserves as they all received extended play.
“It was a game to make sure that we gave minutes to everyone,” Fernández said. “We had to be smart with our minutes, especially with the first group after playing an overtime game in a back-to-back. Obviously it’s not very realistic, because there’s not going to be back-to-backs in the tournament, so we wanted to keep building physically, and obviously, to compete and I think we did.”
Despite playing only 13 minutes, Barrett was still solid, finishing with 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting while adding five rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Towns, previously a Knicks trade target, had a victorious return to his national team after 10 years as he led the Dominicans with 20 points, six rebounds and two assists. The Minnesota Timberwolves star shot 6-of-9 from the field and stretched the floor with 3-of-5 shooting from downtown. But he also had a game-high seven turnovers.
Barrett and Canada wrapped up their warmup games with a 3-2 record. They will open their FIBA World Cup campaign against France, led by Knicks guard Evan Fournier, on August 25 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart Shine in Team USA’s Rout of Greece
Knicks star Jalen Brunson continued his strong play, while teammate Josh Hart finally had his signature game as Team USA rolled to their fourth straight win, routing Greece 108-86 on Friday.
Brunson dished out a game-high seven assists on top of nine points and three rebounds without a single turnover in just 20 minutes of play.
On the other hand, Hart grabbed a game-high nine rebounds. He also added four assists, two steals, one point and a block in an impactful 15 minutes off the bench.
Team USA never trailed in the game as they looked ready for next week’s 2023 FIBA World Cup. They will wrap up their tuneup games against Germany tomorrow, August 20, before flying to Manila, Philippines.
Reporter Expects Knicks-Rockets Bidding War for Joel Embiid
Kelly Iko of The Athletic believes the Houston Rockets looms large as a potential threat in the Knicks’ pursuit of Philadelphia 76ers star Joel Embiid if he demands a trade.
“Obviously, the New York angle is there, but another team is Houston as well just because of the bond between Joel and Ime and just that situation where they’ve added [veteran players],” Iko said on The Athletic NBA Show.
Embiid got close with Udoka, an assistant coach back then, during their time together in Philadelphia during the 2019-20 season.
On the other hand, Rose represented Embiid when he was still one of the most influential player agents in the NBA before becoming a front-office executive.
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