A former Duke basketball star missed a game-tying buzzer beater on Tuesday night.
In a season that has been mostly filled with positives, former Duke basketball standout RJ Barrett couldn’t come through in the clutch moment for the New York Knicks (11-15) on Tuesday night against the Miami Heat (10-14).
In the second game of a home-and-home with the defending Eastern Conference Champions, the Knicks found themselves in a familiar situation of not being able to hold a fourth-quarter lead.
New York has been one of the surprise teams in the NBA under head coach Tom Thibodeau, but scoring in the final 12 minutes of close games has been an issue all season.
ALSO READ: Duke sees season unofficially end in loss to Notre Dame
However, despite only having 14 points in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night against the Heat, New York had a chance to win or send the game to overtime with 6.2 seconds left.
Trailing by two, the Knicks got the ball into the hands of the former Blue Devil, and he got a step on Jimmy Butler, but the All-Star’s recovery defense was sensational. Barrett couldn’t get the contested left-hand layup to fall as time expired, losing 98-96.
The former All-American in Durham didn’t have his best output against the Heat with 13 points, six rebounds, and two assists on 5-of-14 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range.
Former Duke basketball star has not been able to solve Heat defense
The Miami Heat have provided a tough test for RJ Barrett as he struggled with its stout defense in his last two games.
On Sunday afternoon, Miami was in Madison Square Garden, and the former No. 3 overall pick was limited to 19 minutes with just three points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field in a 109-103 loss.
However, Barrett is in second place among second-year players in the NBA in total points scored, only trailing his college teammate Zion Williamson.
ALSO READ: Two-time NBA Finals MVP has high praise for Duke star
A large part of that is due to the injury issues last year’s No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant has been dealing with.
RJ Barrett is averaging 17.0 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game on 43.2-percent shooting from the field yet only 28.7-percent from three-point range.
The New York Knicks continue their road trip on Friday, February 12, against the Washington Wizards (6-15) at 7:00pm EST.