Experiencing your first DNPs of the season in the NBA Finals isn't what any player wants to go through, but that's exactly what's happened to former Golden State Warriors forward Harrison Barnes in the last two games.
Understanding the urgency after falling down 0-2 on their home floor, Mitch Johnson and the San Antonio Spurs have given up on Barnes as a rotation option, and to make matters worse the veteran forward had to watch on as the New York Knicks produced a stunning comeback victory in Game 4 on Wednesday.
Spurs have given up on Harrison Barnes during the NBA Finals
Once a consistent starter and key rotation player for over a decade, including to start his career with the Warriors and upon his arrival to the Spurs last season, Barnes has been forced to accept a significantly diminished role in recent months.
After losing his starting role to the smooth-shooting Julian Champaigne, Barnes has seen his minutes dwindle all the way down to the point where Johnson was left with few other options heading to New York for Game 3.
In his first Finals game since a woeful Game 7 for Golden State against the Cleveland Cavaliers way back in 2016, Barnes went scoreless, missed his two field-goal attempts, and recorded just two rebounds and an assist in his 12 minutes during a 105-95 Game 1 loss. The veteran forward then failed to record a single stat in his less than five minutes in Game 2, with the Spurs a -5 while Barnes was on the floor as they fell to an agonizing one-point loss.
Johnson has understandably shortened his rotation over the last two games, notably going to rookie Carter Bryant over the experienced Barnes which has left the former seventh overall pick stapled to the bench.
Harrison Barnes and Spurs fall to crushing Game 4 defeat
San Antonio looked more than justified for benching Barnes, bouncing back to silence Madison Square Garden with a 115-111 Game 3 victory, before obliterating the Knicks in the first-half to take a 29-point lead.
The Spurs hit an NBA record 14 threes in the first-half on Wednesday night, only for the Knicks to fight all the way back to claim a thrilling and historic 107-106 victory that gives them an imposing 3-1 lead, and just as importantly all the momentum returning to San Antonio for Game 5.
At the end of the day winning cures everything, and as much as Barnes may be disappointed with his place out of the rotation, he won't care at all if the Spurs can produce their own historic comeback and prevail from a 3-1 deficit that would deliver him a second NBA championship.
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