Grimes Shines Off The Bench
Photo; Special to the NY Beacon
By Derrel Jazz Johnson
After losing 3 straight on the road and 3 of their last 4 at home, home cooking served the New York Knicks well, as they thrashed the Sacramento Kings 116-96 Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
It was a well-balanced effort by the team, with Alec Burks leading the team with 21, Evan Fournier adding 18 and Julius Randle with 17, but it was rookie Quentin Grimes (14 points off the bench) who garnered accolades after the game.
“He treats practice like a game,” Knicks Head Coach Tom Thibodeau said after the impressive performance of Grimes. “He’s there early, he practices extremely hard, he guards everyone, he doesn’t take any possessions off. He’s not too cool. He’s earned his way. If he plays well, and the team plays well, he’ll continue to play.”
“He’s good. He’s really good,” Randle said about Grimes after the game. “I know he came in as a shooter, but he competes. What I like is he competes on the defensive end, but I think he has a lot more to his game. Other than just shooting the ball, he can get in the lane, he can finish, he plays at a really good pace, and every time he shoots the ball, it looks like it’s going in. I think he’s gonna have a bright future in the league.”
The Knicks hosted Minnesota Wednesday night before going on the road for 5 straight games. It begins Saturday night against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers. Utah, Denver, Golden State and Portland finish the trip before they come home February 14th against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Sports Editor Andrew Rosario contributed to this article.
