Will RJ Barrett play against the Boston Celtics? – New York Knicks Injury Tracker

 

 

RJ Barrett (illness) is a game-time decision for Monday’s game against the Boston Celtics (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG), according to Steve Popper of Newsday. Barrett begins the Knicks’ five-game road trip as the team’s leading scorer (22.6 points per game), but he has already missed two games due to knee pain, both of which have resulted in losses for the Knicks.

Evan Fournier will not be with the Knicks for the start of a five-game road trip against the Boston Celtics on Monday, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. Fournier, who has yet to play in any of the Knicks’ first nine games, is anticipated to rejoin the club at some point during the trip, which begins in Atlanta on Wednesday.

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Grant Williams Discusses Whether or Not He Expected to Re-Sign with the Celtics

Grant Williams is averaging 11.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 50% three-point shooting for a Mavericks team that is tied for the top record in the West with the Nuggets.

 

 

Grant Williams was no longer the rotation mainstay he had been in the team’s run to the 2022 NBA Finals in his final season with the Boston Celtics, a season that coincided with Joe Mazzulla assuming Ime Udoka’s place as head coach.

In his final season in Boston, the six-foot-six forward averaged 8.1 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 39.5 percent on 3.7 three-point attempts.

He also continues to show his defensive versatility and ability to compete with players like Joel Embiid. In addition, Williams supplied much-needed tenacity, most notably when he challenged Jimmy Butler in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

That choice backfired, as the Miami Heat star forward went from having a quiet night to rallying the visitors to victory, with the visitors winning the first two games of the series, both at TD Garden. The Celtics’ reaction to it, however, stood out, with no one coming to stand up behind Williams.

 

 

While Boston nearly became the first team in league history to come back from a 3-0 hole, the organization began rebuilding the core of its squad shortly after being eliminated and right before the NBA Draft, adding Kristaps Porzingis in a transaction that sent Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies.

That action, along with the more punitive character of the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, appears to have signaled the end of the Charlotte, North Carolina, native’s four-year stay with the team that chose him 22nd overall in 2019.

During an appearance on The Kenny Beecham Pod, he informed the show’s host, “Whatever that Magic Johnson meme is, let’s just say that,” adding, “That’s exactly how I was going into it.”

He ended up going to the Dallas Mavericks in a three-team transaction that also included the San Antonio Spurs as part of a sign-and-trade that saw him sign a four-year, $53.3 million deal. The Celtics earned a $6.2 million traded player exception, the better of the Chicago Bulls’ or New Orleans Pelicans’ 2024 second-round picks, and Dallas’ 2030 second-round pick.

Boston also received the right to exchange a previously acquired 2025 second-round pick (the better of the Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, or Detroit Pistons) for the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

Williams is averaging 11.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, and hitting 50 percent of his 5.4 three-point tries. He’s started all ten games for Dallas, which is 8-2 and tied for the top record in the Western Conference with the Denver Nuggets.