PHOENIX — Quentin Grimes logged practically as many minutes Sunday as he beforehand had all season, and that most likely was the very best information of the day for the Knicks to return out of their 116-95 loss to the Suns.
Grimes, who’d been restricted to 43 minutes over six appearances attributable to lingering foot soreness for the reason that begin of coaching camp, began instead of Cam Reddish (groin) and scored 10 factors with a career-high eight assists and 5 rebounds in 32 minutes.
With Reddish beginning the earlier eight video games at taking pictures guard, each Grimes and veteran Evan Fournier had been ignored of coach Tom Thibodeau’s wing rotation in latest video games.
“It’s been powerful, simply understanding the expectation I’ve had for myself coming in [to this season], and simply attempting to take care of the foot and simply attempting to take care of and keep sturdy mentally and be skilled and do no matter Coach asks of me and keep prepared,” Grimes stated after Sunday’s sport. “That’s what I’ve needed to do to method coming into in the present day.
“I don’t assume I ever thought I blew [my chance]. I do know who I'm and the best way Thibs feels about me, and the group. I simply needed to watch for my alternative, and it was gonna come. … You gotta be prepared for the chance when it comes, and I really feel prefer it got here in the present day and I made essentially the most of it.”
Grimes, the Twenty fifth-overall decide within the 2021 draft out of Houston, typically has been praised by Thibodeau for his skill as a fringe defender. However each time the second-year guard appeared able to rejoin the rotation, he suffered one other setback.
Grimes added that his foot has felt good “for a few weeks” and is “just about again to one hundred pc.”
Requested to evaluate Grimes’ sport on Sunday, Thibodeau stated, “All-around play, I assumed. Defensively sturdy, quite a lot of pop to his sport, good playmaking, hit the open man, created quite a lot of good conditions for us.”
The 22-year-old Grimes began alongside Jalen Brunson, who scored a team-high 27 factors in Sunday’s loss, within the backcourt for the second time this season. He’d additionally executed so on Nov. 4 in Philadelphia earlier than the foot soreness resurfaced and sidelined him once more.
“Quentin performed good, he at all times offers power,” Brunson stated. “He’s at all times taking part in the best manner. He’s at all times doing what he does. Nothing out of the peculiar. He’s very able to having these kind of video games. So I’m completely happy to see him wholesome and doing good.”
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