With Grimes In Health and Safety, McBride Has My Heart

Dec 17

After Sunday, I was still very disappointed in the New York Knicks, but tried looking at the positives, which included Quentin Grimes and his 27 points, 7-three pointers performance against the Milwaukee Bucks. It seemed like Grimes would now be relied upon for more production within the Knicks rotation, especially with some of these other guys out.

On Tuesday, when announced that Grimes would be in health and safety protocols, it felt like a higher power just wanted Knicks fans to cease to exist. However, I realized that no Grimes likely meant minutes for Miles “Deuce” McBride, the other rookie guard picked by the Knicks in the 2021 NBA Draft over the summer.

Coming into the 105-96 loss against the Warriors, I did not have much hope of winning, as I figured that once Steph broke the record for career 3’s, he would have the weight lifted off his shoulders and start burying the Knicks with deep 3 after deep 3. But what actually happened was a tale of the Warriors from this entire season, a team oriented attack, especially on the defensive end, leading to easier fast break buckets. The Warriors absolutely shut down the Knicks offense, forcing it to be the Julius Randle show for a lot of the game. Credit to Randle, he had a great 2nd half, showing off his shooting that he worked on so much two summers ago.

Some other positives against the Warriors included both McBride and Kevin Knox, who had a good game against Milwaukee on Sunday as well. McBride finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, and some good on-ball defense, while Knox finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, and was a threat from the outside the whole game.

After the Warriors game, even though the Knicks lost, I was happy with Knox and McBride, and looked forward to Thursday’s game against the Rockets, as I believed that a game like that provided another chance for Knox and McBride to show off their skills. And then, BAM, Knox is now in health and safety protocols.

I was not able to watch the game against the Rockets until this morning because I saw Spider-Man last night (not going to spoil, do not fret), so my thoughts are very fresh in my mind. The biggest takeaway for me is that McBride showed out, and shoutout to him for rising to the occasion as a necessary point guard with Derrick Rose going down, scoring 15 points and dishing out 9 assists. Besides Burks and Randle, everyone stepped up to the plate, especially Immanuel Quickley and Mitchell Robinson, and I have been very critical of Robinson this season. Quickley finished with 24 points and 7 threes, while Robinson had 17 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 blocks on 8-8 shooting. I mean wow, even Taj Gibson hit a 3.

While the Rockets are not the best team, it is always nice to get a full team effort in a win after a losing streak.

The Knicks play the Celtics in Boston on Saturday.