After an astonishing stretch during the early stages of 2023, the New York Knicks have flatlined these past few weeks. Over their last nine outings, the club has been on the losing end of six games, their latest of which coming against the lowly Orlando Magic Thursday night.
Despite the club’s ugly affair, however, there still proved to be a few bright spots for the Knicks to take away. One of which proved to be the efforts put forth by sophomore guard, Quentin Grimes.
Following the outing, head coach Tom Thibodeau spoke out about the positive attributes that the 22-year-old provided on the floor during the contest.
“[He was] just aggressive, you know. Not hesitating on his shot. [He] put [the ball] on the floor, made some good plays. Got some steals,” Thibodeau said.
Knicks have cut the lead to 7 in Orlando 👀
Quentin Grimes has 21 points.
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Grimes tied for the most points scored on the night with 25 to go along with 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 3 steals while converting on 55.6% of his attempts from the floor and 50.0% from deep, both of which being the best shooting clips on the Knicks.
His efforts against Orlando also mark the first time in his career that he’s managed to drop 20+ points on two consecutive games, as he went on to post 22 the previous night against the Miami Heat.
Tom Thibodeau Sends Subliminal Message to Julius Randle
During his post-game media session, Tom Thibodeau also seemed to send somewhat of a subliminal message to Knicks star Julius Randle who, during the game, lost his temper during the final seconds of the first half which resulted in him receiving a technical foul.
When asked about the exchange the power forward had with the officiating crew, Thibs retorted by indicating that the team needs to do a better job of keeping their priorities in order.
“We have to do everything a lot better and we have to be committed to doing it as a team. There’s going to be ups and downs that we have to navigate — everyone does — and we can’t lose sight of what we’re trying to get accomplished…There’s emotion involved, so you want the emotion to get out of it and then, sometimes when you talk, it clears the air. So, that’s good. But you also don’t want… you’ll allow for idiosyncrasies as long as it doesn’t get in the way of winning. Nothing can get in the way of winning. The team always has to come first and, so, everyone’s responsible for that,” Thibodeau said.
Julius Randle was not happy.
The situation being discussed transpired when Randle was bumped by Magic forward Franz Wagner on an attempted last-second fast break at the end of the second period.
Despite falling to the ground, the All-Star was not awarded a foul call of any sort in his favor, resulting in him getting up and jawing at the referee nearby before ultimately getting T’d up.
Josh Hart Dishes on Potential Future With Knicks
Despite the recent string of losses, it appears as though trade-deadline acquisition Josh Hart has a strong desire to remain in the Big Apple moving forward.
During a recent discussion with Andscape’s Marc J. Spears, the veteran wing opened up about his upcoming free agency and suggested that he can see a long-term future with the Knicks.
“I want bigger things for my wife and myself,” Hart said. “Just find a home somewhere where we are valued and really like living there. And I think that can be New York. I would love for it to be New York and hopefully the organization feels the same way. Coming up, this contract is hopefully my biggest one, one where I’m making sure my family’s fully taken care of. So, I’ve also got to take that into account, too.”
“Just find a home somewhere where we are valued and really like living there. I would love for it to be New York and hopefully the organization feels the same way.”
A free agent following this season, Josh Hart wants to stay with the Knicks t.co/kc0RLrRsHf
Hart finds himself posting averages of 10.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game on 59.5% shooting from the floor and 54.8% shooting from deep as a member of the Knicks while the team has managed to go 12-6 since his first game back on February 11.
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Tom Thibodeau Puts Quentin Grimes’ Play on Focus Following Knicks Loss to Magic