CLEVELAND — Jalen Brunson acknowledged the “terrible timing” of Julius Randle’s injury, but the point guard — along with teammate RJ Barrett — are confident the roster can handle the absence of the All-Star.
For Barrett, it’s a belief rooted in the roster’s improvement from last season, specifically the addition of Brunson and the uptick in scoring from Immanuel Quickley.
“One hundred percent,” Barrett said. “I think it could be anybody’s night. The way I come in looking at it, I want to make the right plays, whether I’m scoring, facilitating, playing defense. Whenever one guy goes down, we always step up to focus. I think it takes more focus especially being down an All-Star. But I’m very confident in our team and how we can handle things.”
