Brad Penner, USA TODAY SPORTS
How Knicks' Quentin Grimes Handled Donovan Mitchell Trash Talk
Quentin Grimes' final entries into the New York Knicks play-by-play ledger from Saturday's NBA playoff victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers likely won't be shown in any metropolitan playoff montage. His jersey from that Game 1 triumph won't appear in the concourses at Madison Square Garden that double as a museum ... the game took place at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, after all.
Despite a pedestrian box score (five points and assists each), Grimes had an NBA playoff debut to remember. The sophomore sank the final points and game-sealing free throws of a 101-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, giving the Knicks a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-seven set that continues on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/TNT).
The career 77 percent free throw shooter got his opportunity when Julius Randle rebounded a Jalen Brunson miss to complete a double-double. Grimes' moment to shine and create a permanent two-possession lead came shortly after, fouled by Jarrett Allen with just over four seconds remaining.
“I think it really didn’t set in until after the game. That really was my first playoff game and [I] had to go to the line and make two big-time free throws,” Grimes said in the aftermath, per Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “But during the game you’re so locked in, trying to focus on winning the game. It didn’t really hit me until after the game. I was like, ‘Oh wow, those were pretty big free throws in my first playoff game, for sure.’”
Free throws in the final minute of NBA playoff games are, of course, anything but free. Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell, he of a game-best 38 points on Saturday, tried to provide the only brand of defense allowed on free throws by visibly, verbally engaging with Grimes before he shot his pair. The first one took a bounce before falling in while the second was a clean sinker that unofficially tipped off the Knicks' celebration.
While Grimes didn't disclose what Mitchell told him, he was more than willing to share his response as the Knicks prepared for Game 2 this week ... even if no words were necessary.
“He was just like he didn’t like the first one because it rattled in a little bit,” Grimes said, per SNY’s Ian Begley. “So I was like, ‘You will like this next one.’ I made sure I knocked down that, but I think the atmosphere will be even crazier in this second game."
Grimes putting down the winning points in a win over Mitchell is perhaps poetic considering the Knicks opted to keep the 2021 first-round choice out of potential trades for the former Utah superstar last summer.
Nearly a full calendar year later, Grimes is a starting five staple for a Knicks group seeking to build its first 2-0 lead on the road since the 1999 conference semifinals in Atlanta. A muted prescience might've worked for Grimes in Game 1 but Josh Hart's reported medical woes could thrust him in a brighter spotlight when Rocket Mortage FieldHouse refills.
If Hart is indeed too hurt to play, Grimes will likely be called upon to use his defensive talents in a greater capacity. Cleveland was mostly sustained by Mitchell's efforts on Saturday, though Darius Garland sank 7-of-13 from the field en route to a muted 17-point showing.
"I don’t think it’s really any more pressure. I feel like I’ve been guarding the best player from the other team the whole season,” Grimes told The Post. “So I feel like it’s just another night, for sure. Just the stakes are a little bit higher."
“I’m just going to come in a little more sharper, just knowing that if he doesn’t play, I just have to be more alert at all times … whether I got Darius or Donovan. I know (Hart’s) a fighter, he’s going to try to give it a go for sure. So I’m not even really worried about that.”
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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