Quentin Grimes Has My Heart
Image from nypost.com
The New York Knicks have now lost 3 in a row, including 2 games on Friday and Sunday to the Toronto Raptors, and then the Milwaukee Bucks. Every day is beginning to feel like groundhog day when the Knicks are on my screen.
On Friday, the game looked over after 12 minutes. The Knicks played with pretty terrible effort, going down 17 by the end of the quarter. The ball could not find its way into the basket, and then the bench mob checked in again. Obi Toppin, who had his best game as a pro on Friday, finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, including a variety of exciting slams to bring the Knicks within striking distance in the 2nd quarter.
However, the team just could not get themselves off the edge. Although holding the Raptors to just 90 points on 34.5% shooting by the end of the game, the Knicks could only muster up 87, shooting a not-so-good 35.8% from the field themselves. The whole starting lineup was terrible, but Derrick Rose and Obi Toppin continue to impress me this season.
Now let’s talk about Quentin Grimes.
With Alec Burks, Obi Toppin, and RJ Barrett all out, Quentin Grimes slid into the starting lineup for the first time in his career, and was beautiful to watch offensively. He had 13 points at halftime, and then hit 4 straight 3-pointers to open up the 2nd half, finishing with 27 points. He seemed to always float to the open spot on the court, going unnoticed. Another surprising player on Sunday was Kevin Knox, who hit 5 threes in an 18 point effort off the bench.
On the other side of things, it seemed like nobody could stay in front of Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton, who kept treating the Knicks defense like cone work. The Knicks still remain without a defensive identity, and this will continue to haunt them down the line, especially without one of their better defenders in RJ Barrett.
The Knicks play the Warriors tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden, where unless Stephen Curry breaks the record tonight, it will most definitely rain threes.
