MIAMI — Quentin Grimes’ return to the starting lineup didn’t solve the Knicks’ problems.
He hit as many 3-pointers Monday night (three) as he had all postseason, but it didn’t help the Knicks avoid falling into a 3-1 hole in this Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Coach Tom Thibodeau reinserted Grimes into the starting lineup after bringing him off the bench for the first three games of the series. It didn’t change the result, as the Knicks fell to the Heat, 109-101, at Kaseya Center and will face elimination Wednesday night at the Garden.
“Just a different look,” Thibodeau said. “We wanted to open up the floor a little bit more, see if that would give us a spark. I like the lift that it gave us. We fell short in the end.”
On his 23rd birthday, Grimes had two early turnovers and a dunk attempt blocked by Jimmy Butler, leading to a Heat basket.
He defended Butler (27 points) most of the night in his 33 minutes.
Thibodeau’s decision came after Twitter user Matthew Z, who identified himself as a business manager for Grimes, had tweeted in support of him following the ugly Game 3 loss to the Heat.
Matthew Z, who goes by the name Matt Evans, posted “Free QG” on Saturday. Grimes said the two are close friends, but Evans is not his manager.
“He doesn’t speak for me. He wants to win as much as I do,” said Grimes, who had nine points, five rebounds, two steals and two assists in the loss. “He just tweeted something that he probably regrets. But he doesn’t speak for me at all, for sure.”
The account also replied Sunday to a Grimes highlight video that was posted by another user asking “what happened to this Quentin Grimes? Bro used to play like Zach LaVine,” a reference to the All-Star guard of the Bulls.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series
- Vaccaro: Knicks’ failure to help Brunson is why their season’s over
- Knicks battle but fall in season-ending Game 6 loss to Heat
- Knicks couldn’t survive two minutes without Brunson
- Brunson’s heroic night spoiled by late turnover
“This Quentin Grimes is alive and well and still getting better, ball ain’t in his hands to show you better than you know,” Matthew Z tweeted.
After Grimes suffered a contused right shoulder in Game 3 against the Cavaliers in the opening round, he missed the following two games. He returned at the start of the Heat series, but off the bench as Thibodeau went with Josh Hart as a starter instead.
The 23-year-old, former first-round pick started 66 games for the Knicks during the regular season, and averaged 11.3 points per game while shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range.
His offense had been mostly nonexistent in the postseason, the 3-and-D guard averaging just 4.3 points and missing 15 of 18 3-point attempts entering the game.
But he is a court-spacing, ball-mover who the Heat have to account for on the perimeter.
“I wasn’t really surprised. I just feel like there was a switch in the rotation,” Grimes said. “‘Thibs wanted to try something new — he tried it earlier with the Cavaliers series, in the beginning against Miami — so he was trying to figure out what the best option [was] to win a game.”