Though Barrett’s heroics will understandably dominate headlines, his crowning moment was only made possible by a devastating performance from Knicks guard Evan Fournier — whose career-high 41 points drove the second half resurgence.
The Frenchman sunk 10 three-pointers from 14 attempts as the Knicks outscored the visitors 61-42 in the second half, wrestling the game-high points total from the Celtics’ Jayson Tatum.
Tatum scored a team-high 36 points to go with nine assists — 16 points clear of his closest teammate Dennis Schroder — including a game-tying shot in the final seconds that had looked set to send the game into overtime.
Yet the subsequent buzzer beater by Barrett — cruelly looped over the outstretched arm of Tatum — denied the Celtics small forward the opportunity to drag his team over the line.
‘I didn’t even see it go in’
Though Barrett admitted after the game that Tatum’s six-foot-eight-inch frame made his shot more difficult, he never had any doubts about missing the target.
“It was definitely a tougher shot — Jayson’s so tall — but every time I shoot, I think it’s going in,” Barrett told reporters.
“It was crazy. I didn’t even really see it because I fell, I didn’t even see it go in, but just from everybody else’s reaction I could tell, so that was cool.”
Having arrived at Madison Square Garden with identical records, victory sees the Knicks leapfrog the Celtics to 19-20 on the season.
Though pleased by the character of the fightback, Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau is keen to avoid his team requiring such dramatic resurgences every week.
“We dug ourselves a big hole,” Thibodeau told reporters after the game.
“We started off slowly, low energy, and you can’t do that … we’re not going to be perfect, we’ll make mistakes but we can play hard — there’s no substitute for hustle.”
No Steph, no party
Elsewhere in the NBA, the depleted Golden State Warriors (29-9) suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season after a shock 101-96 defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans (14-25).
New Orleans were buoyed by an impressive performance by Brandon Ingram, who led scoring with 32 points.
Meanwhile, the Suns made light work of the Los Angeles Clippers (19-20), with Cameron Johnson scoring 24 points as the Western Conference leaders cruised to a 106-89 victory.