After changing their starting lineup, the Knicks lost 133-123 to the Celtics on Friday night in Boston due to poor defense. Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Donte DiVincenzo, and Mitchell Robinson started.
Tom Thibodeau substituted DiVincenzo for Grimes before the game. It's odd that Grimes did this days after voicing his dissatisfaction with his place in the offense, but it worked out.
With Barrett replacing Randle, Grimes started the second quarter with the same unit. Different players were on the floor with him. After nine minutes, Grimes sat after going 3-for-5, 2-for-4 from three, and an assist with Brunson and Randle
After 19:23, the third-year guard scored 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (3-of-7 from three), two assists, and one rebound.
DiVincenzo began but came off the bench. The first-year Knick scored six points and had four rebounds and one assist in 22 minutes on 2-of-6 shooting (2-of-5 from three). Game ended with him on the floor.
The Celtics took advantage of sloppy lane defense early on. Boston's players were driving and scoring easily, which the Knicks stopped midway through the first quarter. The Celtics took a Quickley miss with seconds left and Payton Pritchard laid it in before the buzzer as the paint opened up again.
Second quarter interior defense wasn't a problem, but Celtics shot well and got the mismatch. Boston led by nine in the first half because of mismatches. New York shot 54% and the Celtics 58%. At halftime on Tuesday, the Bucks had 75 points and Boston 74.