Six and the City: Knicks' Grimes Shines in Latest Win
The New York Knicks' sixth consecutive win featured appropriate heroics from the starter bearing the uniform of the same number.
Quentin Grimes' three-point showcase ignited one of the Knicks' most one-sided victories of the season, putting in a season-best-tying five en route to 22 points over 26 minutes. The sophomore's early dominance made for some slow starts from the headliners, setting the pace for the Knicks' 114-91 victory.
In addition to Grimes' dominance, former Illinois high school basketball star Jalen Brunson was 6-of-9 from three-point range and matched Grimes' output.
New York (16-13) reaches three games over .500 for the first time this season and has now won six in a row for the first time since a nine-game streak in April 2021. A much longer dubious, if not much harder to break, streak likewise ended, as the Knicks beat the same opponent on the road in consecutive games since 1970 (San Francisco). The Knicks had previously topped Chicago 128-120 in an overtime decision on Wednesday.
Another extra session appeared to be in the cards during the early portions of Friday's rematch: Chicago was off to a torrid start from the field (hitting 17 of its first 27) but never led by more than five in that span, the Knicks being primarily sustained by triples from Grimes and Brunson. Triples from Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic boosted the lead to seven, but eight straight points for Brunson ignited an 18-5 run to close out the period for the Knicks, who owned a 58-53 halftime lead.
A resurgent effort from Barrett built the Knicks a double-digit lead that stood for almost the entirety of the rest of the game: going 3-of-9 from the field over the first 24 minutes, a Barrett barrage, hitting 4-of-5 over the third quarter's first five minutes, accounted for nine points of the Knicks 13-7 run. Barrett eventually ended the evening as the game's top scorer at 27, with 19 of those points coming in the latter half.
The Knicks' lead was at merely a dozen by the end of the period but a run of 14 consecutive points put the affair out of reach. Another struggling headliner, Julius Randle (hitting only 3-of-10 in the first half), scored eight points in that stretch, reaching 19 points and 12 rebounds.
In a bizarre yet euphoric twist for the Knicks, the loudest cheers of the night came when they take took their biggest lead of the night at 30. With a healthy lead in little danger of evaporating, head coach Tom Thibodeau inserted rotation outliers like Derrick Rose into the game for the final three minutes. Renowned for his prime years in Chicago, those gathered at United Center heralded his entrance with chants of "MVP" (referencing the honor he won in 2011) and loudly applauded his triple. It was Rose's first appearance since the loss to Dallas on Dec. 3.
LaVine led Chicago (11-16) with 17 points in defeat. The Knicks will have a chance to earn their first sweep of the Bulls since the 2016-17 season when the season series wraps at Madison Square Garden next Friday night.
In the meantime, the Knicks will close out a three-game road trip on Sunday late afternoon against the Indiana Pacers (5 p.m. ET, MSG).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
To The Garden and beyond! Get your Knicks game tickets from SI Tickets ... here!
Want the latest in breaking news and insider information on the Knicks? Click Here.
Follow AllKnicks.com on Twitter.
