Knicks’ Quentin Grimes shines at Rising Stars Game but Team Joakim loses to Team Pau in final

Knicks shooting guard Quentin Grimes warned his peers and the rest of the league during the 2023 Rising Stars Game on Friday night.

Make the starting five for Team Joakim alongside Josh Giddey, Evan Mobley, Jabari Smith Jr. And Jeremy Sochan in the semi-final against Team Jason, Grimes was heavily involved from the start.

He started his night with an alley-oop dunk, then sank a three-pointer to give his team a six-point lead. After another two-point field goal, Grimes again reached the edge with a dunk and after a steal he tried to bring home the house with a vicious dunk attempt but was fouled.

With his team only needing three points to advance to the final round, Grimes picked the pocket of the NBA G League star Scooter Henderson and iced the match with a triple. He finished the game with 13 points on 2 of 3 from deep and added two steals.

But it turns out that was just the precursor to his night as Grimes caught fire from downtown on the final lap.

Facing the Pau team, Grimes once again took the start and scored his team’s first two baskets, both from deep. In perhaps his most impressive shot of the night, the 22-year-old caught an errant pass, turned, recovered and swept away his third three of the game to reduce Team Joakim’s deficit at a single point.

On the next possession, Grimes again pulled out from three and splashed it to tie the game as he started the game 4 of 5 from three runs. After a missed heat check, Grimes gave his team an 18-16 lead with a base layup.

This turned out to be Team Joakim’s last lead of the game as Team Pau finished the game on a 9-2 run after putting Jose Alvaradowhich drained the three winners, on Grimes.

Grimes scored 14 of his team’s 20 points and went 4 of 7 from three. In both games, he totaled 27 points, shooting 6 of 10 from behind the arc.

“It was awesome,” Grimes said of the night. “It was everything I could have imagined watching it as a kid, all the stars coming into this game and going on to have a great career. So, I really couldn’t ask for a better night for myself.”

After catching fire deep on a national stage during the Rising Stars Game, is the three-pointer now on Grimes’ radar?

“I think so,” he said. “I mean, that’s something I’m proud of is shooting the ball at a really high level. So I feel like three-point competition would be on the road for me to go forward.”