PHILADELPHIA — March 1, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day that Quentin Grimes out-shot Steph Curry on his way to a career-high 44-point outing as the Sixers defeated the Warriors 116-109.
Following his career night, Grimes addressed the media, discussing what went right, when he felt the potential to take over, and much more.
Philadelphia acquired Grimes in the trade that sent Caleb Martin to the Dallas Mavericks, and in the short time since, he has broken out of the narrative that he is little more than a 3&D player. He’s showcased an ability to run the offense in minutes without Tyrese Maxey, rebound at a high level for a guard (5.4 per game), and, most impressive of all, score at all three levels on the court.
From a team perspective, however, it hasn’t been all rainbows and butterflies for Grimes. The Sixers lost the first eight games he played since the trade and came into Saturday night as underdogs against the Warriors. Still, Grimes did not resign to the expectations of Vegas and others who doubted the Sixers’ chances. He did not pout about the recent announcement that Embiid would miss the rest of the season. He did not defer to Tyrese Maxey and Paul George, the two stars on the team who struggled mightily in this game, particularly in the first half.
Instead, Grimes took what the game gave him and did something he wished he had done when they faced the Knicks in New York last Wednesday.
“Just kind of being aggressive, you know? I mean, I feel like last time, in the last game in New York, I didn’t come out as aggressive as I should have, and then if we kind of took the foot off the gas at the end. But most important, just coming out here to be aggressive, trying to help my team get a win.”
Coming into this game, Grimes’ career high was 36, which he posted against the Indiana Pacers while playing for the New York Knicks. He’s no stranger to scoring in bunches, but tonight was something special, Grimes knew it.
“I think it was like, I mean, I’ve had 20-point halves in the past, but I think in the first half, thinking third quarter now, running, ran off like 10 or 11 straight. I was like, ‘Okay, I’m kind of kind of feeling it tonight,’ for sure.”
More important to Grimes than his new career high was his first win in a Sixers uniform, especially after coming so close in several of his eight games before this matchup.
I feel like it was just a lot of games that we were kind of just letting our foot off the gas. Lot of two-point, three-point, five-point losses, where we should definitely won the game. I feel like tonight we had a couple turnovers that kind of, they kind of cut the lead to about, like, four or five, and then we kind of stuck with it. Made some good passes, good reads, hit open shots. And I feel like tonight was a good step in the right direction for us.”
From the jump, Grimes was locked in—aggressive, as he said—making his first six attempts from the field. Grimes was so focused, in fact, that he was even unaware that he went on such an early run; he was focused on the full 48.
“No, I didn’t know that. I mean, I was kind of locked in, trying to make every basket I shoot. But nah, I didn’t know that; I was just trying to just, you know, stay aggressive. I mean, I was making shots, so just trying to go out there, be aggressive, put pressure on the defense, and just make the right read.”
As for what enabled Grimes to convert his aggression into production, Grimes was quick to put that on the team as a whole, who operated better as one in this matchup.
“Just spacing. I feel like tonight was a good talking game for us, and I mean talking about matchup that we wanted to go out on the court; really was me, PG, or Tyrese and getting space out there and to make the right read. They put two on the ball, make the right pass, and drive it, and just play winning basketball. And I feel like we did that tonight with everybody just talking, communicating, even when things were going bad, staying together unit, we came out with the win.”
While Grimes has showcased an ability to score in bunches before, this complete package of a skillset is something that the public has not always seen from him. Grimes was a point guard in high school, but that is the case for many NBA players, at least in the sense that they were extremely ball-dominant as they were also often the best players on their team — but Grimes seems to have taken the lessons he learned then to heart, and now has the opportunity to put it all on full display.
“I felt like I showed it a little bit in glimpses when I was at Dallas, but here, Coach Nurse has given me a lot of credit, even when Tyrese goes out to come in, fill that role, take care of the ball, until I’m getting a lot more comfortable with every game, getting back to that backup PG position, just like I said, making the right read it, that’s hitting Yabu for a three, driving and kick it. Me being aggressive, putting pressure on the defense, just taking what the defense gives me, not just trying to go out there and just force the action.”
Grimes is set to hit free agency this offseason, but he will be a restricted free agent, giving the Sixers some extra power to retain him as they can match any offer sheet he signs. The expectation is that the Sixers will pursue him heavily, looking to lock up their young wing long-term after trading away the team-friendly deal of Caleb Martin.
What the future looks like for Grimes and the Sixers, both individually and together, is not certain, but asking Grimes, he’s certainly confident in his ability to continue to play alongside Philadelphia’s core in the years to come.
“Definitely. You know, I mean, just playing might have been literally a handful of games with Joel, and then with that unit, you’re comfortable. But like you said, like, when those guys kind of Tyrese goes out quick in the first or something like that, I can just slide into that role and make sure that everybody’s on the right, right page offensively, um, try to be a good leader defensively, talking on that end as well. But whatever the coach needs me to do, I’m gonna go out there and definitely do help this team win.”
