Celtics 123, Knicks 110: Scenes from Quentin Grimes shooting seven treys

The Knicks visited Boston tonight for their third preseason game and their second against the Celtics. New York won their first meeting but rested three of their starters tonight. Despite strong showings from Quentin Grimes and Deuce McBrice, the Knicks couldn’t beat the Celts this time. Your score, 122-110.

The Celtics sat their stars in their last match-up. Tonight, Tom Thibodeau rested Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, and Josh Hart. When the league takes a stand on load management, Tom Thibodeau starts resting players. That’s our crusty contrarian!

Your Knicks’ starting line-up: McBride, Grimes, Donte DiVincenzo, Jericho Sims, and Mitchell Robinson.

To start the game, Kristaps Porzings was determined to make a mark. In the first quarter, he logged 10 points (with two three-pointers), three rebounds, and a steal.

New York managed to keep it close through the first quarter, but the Celtics opened up a 27-point gash in the second. Although the Knicks put together a 17-8 run to close the quarter, they still trailed 78-60 at intermission. Daquan Jeffries and Ryan Arcidiacono got a little run to rest the starters. Evan Fournier managed to be a -21 in nine first-half minutes.

Here’s one of Quentin Grimes’ seven three-pointers tonight:

The Celtics applied full-court press at times. It caused New York some problems:

As the first half came to a close, the famous Latvian blocked Mitchell Robinson at the rim. ‘Twas a fluke. In meaningful games this season, Mitch will feast on the Celtics frontcourt, even if Al Horford continues to defy father time. Once again, as throughout the preseason, the big Cajun demonstrated his improved athletic shape and impressive battery. He finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and an assist in 21 minutes, and rested for most of the second half.

Here’s the trey from Hartenstein:

Thibs could be heard screaming over the crowd. He wanted a win, and the Knicks responded, charging like a rocket into Q3. Powered by sharpshooting by Grimes and scrappy playmaking by McBride, they fought back to close the lead to eight with about three minutes remaining in the third frame.

There’s a reason why these Celtics posted the league’s second-best record last season. They mounted an unanswered nine-point run and established a lead from which the Knicks could not recover.

Despite the loss, we saw great energy from Quentin, Deuce, Donte, and Hartenstein tonight. Quoth foiegrastyle: “Grimes a +8 in this 13 pt loss, young boy growing <3”. Grimes would finish his night +6, with 22 points, three assists, two boards, and a steal while shooting 7-of-12 from the floor. He attempted, and missed, only one other field goal.

Check out Deuce, stealing the ball and taking it for the contested bucket. McBride tallied 16 points, four steals, six assists, and two rebounds on 6-of-18 from the field (2-of-8 from deep) over 33 minutes.

Donte ended with 15 points. He shot an underwhelming 3-of-12 from the floor, but contributed a steal and three assists in his 25 minutes.

Notes

• Last season with the Portland Trail Blazers, Ryan Arcidiacono started four games. It’s true. He recorded no points in 14 minutes tonight.
• Three blocks for Jericho Sims tonight.
• Isaiah Roby won’t crack the rotation, but he notched 11 points, three boards, and an assist in 15 minutes and shot 3-of-3 from beyond the arc.
• 13 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and a dime from Hartenstein in 23 minutes tonight.
• Jefferies shot 2-of-5 from downtown tonight, tallying eight points and three assists. What are the odds that he tops that in another game this season?
• Fournier reminded us of why he fell out of the rotation. He finished with 10 points but shot 3-of-10 from the floor, 1-of-4 from deep, and looked frazzled on defense.

No reason to recap this preseason affair. Let’s save the energy for tomorrow’s game against the Wizards at MSG. Get well soon, Herb.