BREAKING: Knicks to Start Immanuel Quickley for Injured Quentin Grimes
The New York Knicks are set to start Immanuel Quickley for the first time this season, the team announced shortly before their Wednesday night matchup with the Toronto Raptors tips off at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG). He's set to step in at the primary shooting guard role in place of Quentin Grimes, who has been ruled out due to a sprained right ankle.
Quickley, one of five Knicks to appear in all 31 games so far this season, has been a reliable bench contributor over the early portions of the campaign, averaging 10 points and a career-best four rebounds and 1.1 steals. He's fresh off a Knicks-best 22 in scoring in the team's most recent win, a 132-94 triumph over the defending champion Golden State Warriors on Tuesday. Quickley shot 6-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-6 from three-point range (earning a season-best in successful triples).
Grimes was originally labeled doubtful for Wednesday's visit from the Raptors. He had an injury scare against the Warriors on Tuesday, rolling his ankle after he landed on Ty Jerome after he took a three-point jump shot in the second quarter. Jerome was charged with a Flagrant 1 foul for the infraction.
Grimes briefly writhed in pain but remained in the game. He had 19 in Tuesday's victory, the eighth in a row that allowed the Knicks (18-13) to tie the mark for the second-longest winning streak from any NBA team so far this season. The sophomore had started each of the past 15 games, where the Knicks posted a 10-5 mark. His injury perhaps gives a chance to his predecessor Cam Reddish, who has not taken the floor since Dec. 3, his exile coming after an eight-game stint in the opening five.
While Grimes' long-term prospects will likely require further evaluation, the Knicks are likely being careful considering the packed week, which includes this back-to-back.
Quickley will make the seventh start of his three-year career, his last coming in last year's victorious season finale which ironically also came against the Raptors. The rest of the starting five remains unchanged, as Quickley joins RJ Barrett, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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