Tag: rj barrett

Breaking down Knicks-Cavaliers series, plus predictions

The Knicks are back in the playoffs and back in the 4-vs.-5 opening-round series as the lower seed two years after they were the fourth seed in their unexpected 2020-21 appearance in Tom Thibodeau’s first season as their head coach.

In his first career postseason experience in that opening-round series two years ago, All-Star forward Julius Randle was swarmed and flustered by the Hawks in an eye-opening five-game elimination.

Randle’s availability remains a question mark entering the series opener Saturday in Cleveland due to a sprained ankle.

His supporting cast is far better this time around, however, with the additions of Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, the health of Mitchell Robinson, the experience gained by RJ Barrett and others, and the internal improvement and impact of homegrown players such as Immanuel Quickley and Quentin Grimes.

The Post’s Peter Botte breaks down the key matchups that will decide whether the Knicks can get by former trade target Donovan Mitchell and the Cavaliers — and advance to the second round for the first time since 2013:

Knicks’ 3-point shooting vs. Cavaliers’ 3-point defense

The Cavaliers were the top team in the league this year in overall defensive rating and fewest points allowed per game (106.9), but opponents shot 36.8 percent on 3-point attempts against them, which ranked 23rd overall.

The Knicks upped their volume of 3-point tries to eighth in the league, and they connected on nearly half (17-for-36) of their long-range shots in their win at Cleveland two weeks ago, including seven makes by Jalen Brunson in a 48-point eruption.


BrJalen Brunson drives down the court during a recent game against the Wizards.
Noah K. Murray / NY Post

Isaac Okoro, the Cavaliers’ best perimeter defender, could be a difference maker if he returns from a sore left knee to play for the first time since March 26.

Edge: Even

Cavaliers’ 3-points shooting vs. Knicks’ 3-point defense

Expanded roles for Quentin Grimes and Immanuel Quickley — and to a lesser degree, Deuce McBride — helped the Knicks bounce back from a few disastrous early efforts guarding the 3-point arc, and they finished the season a respectable 12th in the league in that category.

The Cavaliers’ highest volume outside shooters are Donovan Mitchell (9.3 attempts per game), Darius Garland (6.0) and Caris LeVert (4.4), and they shot 36.7 percent as a team.

Edge: Cavaliers


Donovan Mitchell, shooting a jumper over the Nets' Mikal Bridges during a recent game, is one of the Cavaliers' top 3-point shooters.
Donovan Mitchell, shooting a jumper over the Nets’ Mikal Bridges during a recent game, is one of the Cavaliers’ top 3-point shooters.
Getty Images

Rebounding

Mitchell Robinson led the NBA in offensive rebounding among qualifying players with 4.5 per appearance, and Julius Randle’s 10.0 boards per game overall helped the Knicks finish tied for second on the glass with an average of 46.6 per game.

The midseason addition of Josh Hart also added 7.0 per game off the bench.

Cleveland starts dual 6-foot-11 bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, but finished 25th in rebounding, with 41.1 on average.

Edge: Knicks

Drawing fouls and shooting free throws

The Knicks attempted the third-most freebies in the league (25.5), with Randle, Brunson and RJ Barrett all above five tries per game.

They connected on just 75.5 percent, though, good for 22nd in the league, with even Quickley slipping to 82 percent after hitting 88.5 percent from the stripe his first two seasons.

Mitchell and Garland average around 10 attempts between them, while shooting a combined 86.5 percent.

Edge: Cavaliers

Knicks’ ability to get paint points vs. Cavaliers’ interior defense

Led largely by Robinson’s offensive rebounding, the Knicks’ 16.2 second-chance points per game ranked third in the league, although they finished in the middle of the pack (15th) in paint points.

Barrett is at his best when he’s attacking the rim, and Brunson and Quickley have proven able to score near the rim with floaters and short jumpers.


Mitchell Robinson pulls a down a rebound away from the Wizards’ Daniel Gafford during a recent game.
Noah K. Murray / NY Post

Mobley (1.5) and Allen (1.2) both blocked more than one shot per appearance.

Edge: Even

Cavaliers’ ability to get paint points vs. Knicks’ interior defense

The Knicks missed Robinson’s inside presence when he was sidelined for several weeks following January thumb surgery, and he finished sixth in the league with 1.8 blocks per game.

Backup center Isaiah Hartenstein also has contributed defensively in the second half.

The Cavaliers were a few notches above the Knicks (12th) in paint points with 52.7 per game.

Edge: Knicks

In transition

The Knicks tied for 25th in steals with just 6.4 per game, and they were 15th again in transition points. Mitchell noted recently that the Knicks seemed to play “faster” and less in half-court sets with Randle replaced by Obi Toppin in the lineup late in the season. Hart also likes to push the ball whenever in the game. The Cavaliers were 24th in the league in transition points with just fewer than 20 per game.

Edge: Knicks

Depth/bench

Much of this category for the Knicks depends on Randle’s availability, but their four-man second-unit — largely Quickley, a viable Sixth Man candidate, and most recently, Toppin — have filled in effectively all season.

Hart’s arrival in February gave them versatile dimensions they didn’t have previously, and Hartenstein has improved as the season has gone on.


Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley, going up for a shot during a recent game against the Wizards, is a viable Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
NBAE via Getty Images

Cleveland’s primary depth players — namely Okoro, LeVert and Cedi Osman — also are solid contributors.

Edge: Knicks

Coaching

Clearly, factions of fans believe Tom Thibodeau is too stubborn with his rotations and heavy minutes, but his decision to bench high-priced veterans Evan Fournier, Derrick Rose and since-traded Cam Reddish in November and December resulted in a 37-22 finish to secure his second playoff berth in three seasons.

Cleveland’s J.B. Bickerstaff has taken a 22-win team in 2021 to 44 and 51 wins the past two seasons.

Edge: Even

Intangibles

The Cavaliers boast the player the Knicks failed to obtain last summer in the 26-year-old Mitchell, the Westchester County product who said of motivation to face his hometown team that he “wouldn’t want it any other way.”

The Knicks need the Garden to rock like the 1990s. They also will need to grab at least one win at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse to advance, and their 24-17 road mark was their best record away from MSG since 1996-97.

Edge: Knicks

Predictions

Peter Botte

Win or lose, the deeper Knicks will be far more competitive than they were against the Hawks two years ago.

As long as Julius Randle is back alongside Jalen Brunson by Game 2, the Knicks’ road success this season will help them win the one or two they’ll need in Cleveland to advance.

Knicks in 7

Zach Braziller

A healthy Randle would’ve changed this, perhaps enabling the Knicks to steal one of the first two games in Cleveland. But he won’t be himself early in this series, and the Knicks will be fighting an uphill battle the entire way.

The best player — Donovan Mitchell — is the difference in a memorable seven-game battle.

Cavaliers in 7

Mike Vaccaro

If the Knicks were 100 percent healthy, this pick would be Knicks in six.

But since their two best players, Brunson and Randle, will both be various stages of hobbled, it’s hard to see how they can squeeze out four wins.

It’ll be a fun series though.

Cavaliers in 7

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Knicks’ RJ Barrett has big night: ‘playmaking was terrific’

It won’t solve the problem of his late-game absences, but RJ Barrett found a way to at least redirect attention Saturday night.

Barrett dished out a season-high seven assists and scored 25 points (his most points since he scored 30 on Feb. 2) as the Knicks defeated the Pelicans, 128-106, at the Garden. It marked the sixth time in Barrett’s four-year NBA career he has had seven or more assists. He attributed his facilitation to being aggressive on offense. He also noted that the made shots, a key component, followed from other Knicks after his passes.

“The playmaking was terrific, all-around play, just read the game really well,” Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau said of Barrett. “Aggressive to start, good rhythm, and then when there was traffic around him, he sprayed it out and created easy shots for us. And when we get our team doing that we’re gonna score a lot of points.”

Barrett’s big game came one night after Thibodeau kept him off the court for the final 7:56 of a tight contest against the Wizards. Before the game Saturday, Thibodeau attributed his decision Friday to “sometimes, another guy’s got it going and that’s the way it is.” But it wasn’t the first time this season the coach has subbed out Barrett, his 22-year-old, $107 million star, in pivotal moments of the fourth quarter.


RJ Barrett, who scored 25 points, drives on Josh Richardson
Noah K. Murray-NY Post

“It’s going to be what goes well, but RJ’s obviously a very important part of the team,” Thibodeau said.

Two of Barrett’s assists came early in the first quarter. Barrett lobbed a pass to Mitchell Robinson, who scored to give the Knicks a double-digit lead. Later, he executed a drive-and-kick to Randle, who hit a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Barrett also found a scoring rhythm early, challenging Brandon Ingram one-on-one and beating him with a crossover and step-back jumper to open the scoring. He added 10 points in the third quarter, including eight points in the first 3:13.

“[Barrett] was great,” Randle said. “Just how he was reading the floor, getting guys open looks early with how they were playing and keeping his feet when he got in the lane.”

Near the start of the second quarter, Barrett curled around a screen from Isaiah Hartenstein and drained a 3-pointer. He sank another 3 later in the quarter, after Jalen Brunson flung a crosscourt pass near the right corner, where Barrett was stationed.

In between those two baskets, he added another pair of assists — facilitating a Robinson dunk and a Josh Hart jumper — that helped him to his most this season since Dec. 11, when he compiled six in a win against the Kings.

“We clicked really well as a team today,” Barrett said.

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Knicks’ second unit is finally healthy finding its rhythm

Two games after Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau went to his new second unit in early December, Obi Toppin suffered a non-displaced fracture in his right fibula. When he returned a month later, RJ Barrett, a starter who almost always plays with the reserves, was out with a lacerated right index finger. 

Finally, Thibodeau’s second-unit quintet of Toppin, Barrett, Isaiah Hartenstein, Miles McBride and Immanuel Quickley are healthy at the same time, and there are signs they can be productive for the Knicks. 

On Tuesday night, that unit helped the Knicks build an 11-point, second-quarter lead, then keyed a strong fourth quarter as part of a 27-point performance. Two nights earlier, the group was pivotal in the Knicks overcoming an early 17-point deficit, although it also struggled in the fourth quarter of that loss to the Raptors. Quickley, however, didn’t play in that game. 

“Huge. I mentioned it earlier that the bench was playing really well prior to RJ getting hurt, then Obi got hurt and we haven’t found our rhythm,” Thibodeau said. “Now I think we’re starting to find that rhythm again.” 


Obi Toppin #1, Immanuel Quickley #5 and Miles McBride #2 of the New York Knicks huddle in action against the Chicago Bulls at Madison Square Garden on March 28, 2022 in New York City.
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Isaiah Hartenstein #55 of the New York Knicks celebrates after scoring against the Washington Wizards in the second half at Capital One Arena on January 13, 2023 in Washington, DC.
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The overall numbers of the five aren’t great, although it is a very small sample size. In 53 minutes together they have a minus-6.2 NET rating. Their offensive rating is an even 100, a poor figure, while their defensive rating of 106.2 is solid. 

But there has been much shuffling because of the injuries to Toppin and Barrett, Quickley missing a game with a sore left knee and Hartenstein being slowed by an Achilles injury. They showed what they can do against the Cavaliers, one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference. 

Toppin scored in double figures for the second straight game, producing 11 points. Quickley continued his ascension as a quality all-around player, notching nine points, six assists, five rebounds and a team-best, plus-14 rating. McBride was aggressive and made quick decisions, dishing out three assists along with his typical quality defense. Then there was Hartenstein, who enjoyed one of his best games as a Knick with nine rebounds, four assists and a block. That included the game-saving stop at the rim of Donovan Mitchell in the final seconds. 

“When they come in and they push the lead like that, it’s tough [or the opposition], because it allows us obviously to get rest, but it just brings a certain momentum and confidence to our team when they play like that,” Julius Randle said. 

Consistency is clearly the key, but so is health. They just haven’t shared the floor enough to develop cohesion. The Knicks need them to be productive, to lighten the load on co-stars Randle and Jalen Brunson. Quickley, averaging career-highs in points (12.4), rebounds (4.0), field goal percentage (42.9) and minutes (27.4), has been a constant. Toppin finding his form of a year ago would be a major boost. Though his 3-point shooting has improved, up to a career-best 37 percent, his other numbers are all down. Lately, though, he has begun to find his game, perhaps as he has shaken off the rust from all that time on the sideline with his leg injury. 


R.J. Barrett #9 of the New York Knicks looks up the court against the Toronto Raptors during the first half of their basketball game at the Scotiabank Arena on January 22, 2023 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
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“I loved his aggressiveness,” Thibodeau said. “He’s mixing it up, he’s not settling. It’s some drives to the basket, it’s running the floor, it’s shooting the open 3.” 

Overall, the bench is 26th in the league in scoring, but it does have strong advanced numbers: sixth in offensive rating (114.9) and ninth in NET rating (plus-1.8). As the Knicks try to stay afloat amid a difficult schedule while defensive anchor Mitchell Robinson is out for the next month with a fractured right thumb, they will need their bench to make a positive impact on a consistent basis. 

Their latest showing was a step forward in that direction. 

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Knicks’ RJ Barrett has big night in return from finger injury

No, RJ Barrett said with a smile, he was not surprised to log 41 minutes in his first full game since Christmas Day.

This is Tom Thibodeau we’re talking about.

“Whenever you suit up, expect the unexpected,” the Knicks’ cornerstone wing said after scoring 27 points and adding eight rebounds in their 119-113 win over the Pacers Wednesday night.

Barrett’s lacerated right index finger felt fine after it cost him the last six games, and his conditioning was there. He started hot against the Pacers, scoring 16 first-half points, but struggled a bit late. But for the most part, it was a strong return.

“I was trying to be aggressive,” Barrett said. “I’ve been working, I haven’t been just sitting down. Being able to go out there and my team and my teammates having confidence in me was huge for me. … Could’ve had a better second half, but I’m sure as these games go along, I’ll get better.”

RJ Barrett, who scored 27 points, goes up for a shot during the Knicks’ 119-113 win over the Pacers.
Robert Sabo

Barrett suffered the injury on Dec. 27 in the opening minutes of an excruciating overtime loss to the Mavericks in Dallas. Counting that game, the Knicks went 4-3 without one of their top players.

In a surprise move, Thibodeau went much of the fourth quarter with Quentin Grimes on the bench, opting for Immanuel Quickley instead at one of the guard spots. Grimes did check back into the game with 1:15 remaining, and scored five points late to ice the game. He wound up with a team-high, plus-14 rating in 30 minutes and scored 18 points.

“We can close with ‘Quick.’ We can close with Quentin. Just the way that it unfolded,” Thibodeau said. “The pressure that we were facing, I thought ‘Quick’ gave us a little different look than Quentin. I’m comfortable with Quentin in those situations. I wasn’t going to take RJ out.”

Quickley came off the bench after starting the last seven games and had 11 points, five rebounds and four assists in 26 productive minutes. … The Pacers were without starting wing Aaron Nesmith (non-COVID illness) and standout forward Myles Turner (back spasms).

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Jalen Brunson leads Knicks past Warriors for eighth straight win

Tom Thibodeau was close with Jalen Brunson the person, having known him since he was a young child. He had only watched him from a distance as a player, first in high school, then college and later the NBA.

But almost immediately after Brunson agreed to join the Knicks, his new coach had a good idea of why Brunson was going to be so valuable as his new point guard.

“I’ll be honest with you, when we first signed him he started coming in immediately in the summer and I knew right then, just by what he was doing,” Thibodeau said. “Not by what he was saying. Not by anything other than the way he came in and the way he worked each and every day. I knew that was exactly what we needed.”

Through the season’s first 31 games — in good times and bad, when he’s at less than 100 percent, when games are on the line — it has become clear what the addition of Brunson has meant to the Knicks. After Brunson inked that four-year, $104 million deal to leave the Mavericks, there was a narrative that he was overpaid. So far, it has been the opposite.

Jalen Brunson drives to the basket during the Knicks’ 132-94 blowout win over the Warriors.
Robert Sabo

His brilliant first season as a Knick continued Tuesday, in the form of a 22-point, five-assist, no-turnover masterpiece that led the Knicks to a 132-94 blowout of the defending champion Warriors and extended their NBA-leading win streak to eight. For the first time in nine meetings at the Garden, the Knicks beat the Warriors. This time, they had the star point guard on their side, as Golden State was without Stephen Curry due to a left shoulder injury, and they treated the Warriors like a sparring partner, instead of the other way around.

Brunson set the tone — with his scoring in the first half and passing after the break. He had plenty of help, four teammates in double figures. Immanuel Quickley snapped out of a shooting slump to hit five 3-pointers and score 22 points, Quentin Grimes had 19 points as he continued his impressive play and RJ Barrett contributed 18 points and five assists. Julius Randle was again a force inside, notching 15 points, 12 rebounds and five assists. Jordan Poole led the Warriors (15-17) with 26 points.

Immanuel Quickley, who scored 22 points, shoots a jumper during the Knicks’ blowout win.
Robert Sabo

After averaging over 27 points on the recent 3-0 road trip, Brunson picked up where he left off. He scored 16 points in the opening half on a variety of midrange jumpers, and went on a personal 9-0 run in the second quarter that gave the Knicks their largest lead of the first half at 57-43.

The ball moved well in the opening half, the Knicks racking up 15 assists on 24 made field goals and shooting a blistering 52.2 percent from the field. They hit 10 of their 19 3-point attempts, three apiece from Grimes and Quickley, and were dominant on the glass, owning a 22-14 edge. The lead was 13 at the break, and really could’ve been larger had the Warriors not shot so well from deep, making eight of 21 attempts.

Mitchell Robinson slams one home during the Knicks’ dominant victory.
Robert Sabo

There was a scare late in the first half that halted the positive vibes momentarily. Grimes landed on the foot of Warriors guard Ty Jerome, and appeared to turn his right ankle. Jerome was assessed a Flagrant 1. Grimes hit two free throws, came out of the game, but started the second half.

Brunson used the pass instead of the shot in the third quarter, stacking up four assists in the early portion of the period as the Knicks threatened to run the Warriors off the Garden floor. After hitting a jumper, Brunson set up a Grimes 3-pointer and Barrett layup on consecutive possessions, keying a 16-6 run that pushed the Knicks lead to a then game-high 21. It nearly doubled from there, ending in a 38-point win.

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This is the fight the superstar-less Knicks need to show

PHILADELPHIA — Even though mediocre teams are never supposed to win on the road against superior opponents, the Knicks had absolutely no choice but to win Friday. They were not exactly facing the Julius Erving-Moses Malone 76ers. 

In fact, they weren’t even facing the Joel Embiid-James Harden 76ers. With Philadelphia’s two franchise players out, and with the deep, rough-and-tumble Eastern Conference offering no free passes, the Knicks needed to prove to themselves — and to everyone else — that they could at least sink a five-foot uphill putt after it had been practically conceded. 

They did not hit that putt dead center. No, it did a 360 spin around the cup before falling at last, leaving the visitors at Wells Fargo Center looking more relieved than joyful at the final horn Friday night. 

No surprise there. As a rule, nothing will come easily to this middling group. These are the Knicks after all, and after seven games the best thing that could be said about them is that they aren’t the Nets, and that maybe it isn’t such a horrible thing in the end that they failed to sign Kyrie Irving (with Kevin Durant) in the summer of 2019. 

(The Knicks offered an apology to their fan base after that failure. Yes, that can be retracted now.) 

But this eighth game, a 106-104 victory over Philly, might’ve done a lot more than get the Knicks back to .500. They were down 12 points early in the fourth quarter, and they didn’t have a clue how to cover Tyrese Maxey, the emerging star who scored 27 points in the first 36 minutes. While watching Immanuel Quickley’s college teammate repeatedly blow by a parade of overmatched defenders, it was hard not to think that the Knicks ended up with the wrong Kentucky guard in the 2020 draft. 

The Knicks dug into a needed identity against the 76ers.
Getty Images

What else is new, right? This was looking like another night to whine in print about the Knicks’ lack of a true superstar, their inability to trade for Donovan Mitchell or Dejounte Murray, and the fact that Mitchell, Murray, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Ja Morant — the four men most responsible for the Knicks’ four early defeats — had combined for 138 points and 39 assists in those games, delivering performances that you won’t be seeing on Tom Thibodeau’s side of the box score. 

Only it didn’t play out like that. Thibodeau’s decision to start Quentin Grimes turned out to be a non-factor as Grimes scored two points and was minus-20 in 15 minutes. The Knicks committed 13 turnovers before 14 minutes of basketball had been played, they squandered a five-point halftime lead with a dreadful third quarter after Mitchell Robinson left the game with a bum knee, but then they overcame it all. 

“We fought,” RJ Barrett said. “It was beautiful to see.” 

Yes, an ugly game can indeed be a beautiful thing. Obi Toppin was making plays all over the floor — and making a persuasive case for the Toppin-Julius Randle pairing that keeps Thibs up at night — while Jalen Brunson was giving some locals in the crowd a reminder of what he did for Villanova, slicing down the lane for a basket, a drawn foul, and a three-point play with 1:05 left that was one of the biggest sequences of the night. 

Asked beforehand what Brunson has brought to his new team, Sixers coach Doc Rivers said: “Leadership. Toughness. Big shot maker. Winner. Other than that … [laughter]. No, really, I think all those things are what he’s good at. I don’t think you look at him and see one thing that stands out, other than all the intangibles that make him a really good player.” 

Jalen Brunson dribbles during the Knicks’ win over the 76ers.
Getty Images

Brunson led the Knicks with 23 points and seven assists against only one turnover. He is not much to look at athletically, but he is too smart and efficient with the ball for that to matter. 

“We were very resilient,” Brunson said. “We’ve had a lot of opportunities in other games. We’ve been up and we’ve been down and we came up short the last couple of those. But we finally did enough to win.” 

That was the best part of the whole thing. Even with the addition of Brunson, the Knicks don’t have a lot of talent. They have a number of good players, but no great ones. If they want any shot of making the real playoffs, and staying out of the play-in tournament, they need to show consistent competitive heart from here until springtime. 

“To me, you need that in everything in life,” said Barrett, who scored 22 points. “You’ve got to compete in everything to just try to do the best. We’ll definitely need that throughout the season.” 

The Knicks don’t have an anchor. They don’t have a face of the franchise, and their hope that Barrett will grow into one is a 50-50 proposition at best. 

They have to do all of the little things to compensate for the dearth of big names capable of doing the big things. 

Thibodeau put it this way: “We’re asking everyone to sacrifice and put the team first. If we do that, we have a chance.” 

The Knicks fought for their chance to win on Friday night. They’d better keep their boxing gloves laced tightly for the next five months. 

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Knicks’ RJ Barrett finally makes first 3-pointers of season

It took 11 tries and until the third quarter of the third game, but RJ Barrett finally got off the 3-point schneid on Monday night.

Barrett knocked down three second-half 3-pointers and scored 18 of his 20 points after the break to help the Knicks knock off the Magic, 115-102, at the Garden.

“It was going to have to happen eventually,” said Barrett, who had a team-best, plus-22 rating in 38 minutes. “I work on them all the time. My teammates are with me, the whole staff is with me, so when they’re there I gotta shoot them.”

Despite shooting just 1 of 9 in the first half, Barrett didn’t stop looking for his shot, and his teammates didn’t stop giving him the ball.

“It says a lot about our team, struggling in the first half obviously, but the whole team stuck with me, everybody was being positive, and I was able to deliver,” Barrett said. “It shows how our team cares about each other and we try to get everybody involved.”

RJ Barrett
Noah K. Murray

Coach Tom Thibodeau closed the game with Immanuel Quickley rather than reinserting starter Evan Fournier. The Knicks coach liked Quickley’s performance even though he went scoreless. The third-year guard had eight assists and six rebounds.

“Just the way the game unfolded,” Thibodeau said. “It gave us our best chance.”

The Knicks faced arguably the top rookie in the league Monday night.

Paolo Banchero, the No. 1-overall pick out of Duke, made his professional Garden debut and scored a team-high 21 points in the loss. Banchero was somewhat of a surprise to go No. 1 — Chet Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr. were considered the favorites. But so far, Banchero has looked the part, averaging 23.3 points, 8.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.0 blocks in three games.

“I think he’s really gifted. He has a great feel for the game,” Thibodeau said before the game. “I watched a lot of his games last year, he had tremendous poise and he’s brought that into the NBA. He was NBA-ready coming in.”

Banchero led Duke to the Final Four in his lone year in college. Now he’s hoping to turn around the Magic, which is coming off its ninth losing season in the last 10 years.

Second-year guard Quentin Grimes (sore left foot) remained out.

“He’s doing some things,” Thibodeau said. “So right now it’s just making sure that we’re giving the proper treatment and rest to let everything calm down and go from there.”

Grimes missed almost the entire preseason, played in the final game and felt discomfort the following day. He has yet to return to practice as a full participant.

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