Julius Randle was front and center when his New York Knicks teammate Quentin Grimes put on a show during Friday night’s Rising Stars.
Grimes stepped out of his usual fourth option role with the Knicks’ starting lineup and took on the mantle as the go-to guy of Team Joakim Noah.
Grimes shot the lights out on his way to a 27-point performance laced with three steals and two blocks, and a game-winner in the first game. He was 10 for 14 from the floor, including 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.
“He was great,” Randle said of Grimes. “I think — I know he would have won the MVP if their team would have won, but he was great.”
Despite Grimes’ brilliance on both ends, he ended on the losing end after Team Pau Gasol’s Jose Alvarado stole the thunder with the game-winner in the championship match.
Nonetheless, Grimes showed what he could do with the ball in his hands, something that he doesn’t often do with the Knicks in a starting lineup stacked with ball-dominant players Randle, Jalen Brunson, and RJ Barrett.
“For him to come out and put a performance on like that in that type of setting was amazing,” Randle added.
Grimes hasn’t shot well before the All-Star weekend. So, catching rhythm in Salt Lake City hopes to lead to a better shooting performance from the Knicks’ starting wing for the stretch run.
Grimes will return the favor and cheer on Randle for the 3-point shootout and Jericho Sims for the Slam Dunk Contest before flying out Sunday morning to catch a break.
Follow this writer on Twitter: @alderalmo