


Quentin Grimes has taken on the challenge of defending the opposing team’s top scorers throughout this season with the Knicks, and the second-year wing knows he will line up often against All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell in the first round of the playoffs against the Cavaliers.
Mitchell dropped 42 points on the Knicks when the team’s met last week in Cleveland, his second of four consecutive games with at least 40 entering Friday’s game against the Magic.
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“He’s savvy. He can do a lot with the ball. He can shoot the ball from super deep, so you gotta pressure him up. You gotta kinda lock him up,” Grimes said about Mitchell after Wednesday’s win at Indiana. “I’ll be watching more film, for sure. … He’s been on a tear the past four or five games.
“So, you gotta watch more film, see what you got wrong, hopefully prepare better for when we see them in the playoffs.”
The 22-year-old Grimes also has been on an offensive tear lately, including a career-high 36 against the Pacers.
With Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, he was one of three Knicks to score at least 30, marking the first time the franchise has managed that feat since 1979.
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Grimes has averaged 23.0 points while shooting 47.9 percent from 3-point range (34-for-71) over his past seven appearances entering Friday’s game in New Orleans.
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“He’s playing all around, shooting the ball with a lot of confidence, obviously,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “Flying around the floor, guarding people, multiple effort. But you could just see his confidence growing game by game. They’re rhythm shots, and that’s what I like about the way we’re playing right now.”
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Josh Hart also has spent many games guarding Mitchell from his days in the Western Conference, and he’s also been used by Thibodeau in the stopper role against top perimeter players.
Hart also is likely to see plenty of the four-time All-Star during his first career postseason experience.

“The challenge is to make him not score the f—ing ball. That’s the challenge,” Hart said Wednesday, smiling. “In the league you have guys that no matter what you do, no matter how good the defense is, they’re gonna make shots. That’s what happens, especially when you sign up to be guarding the best players.
“Obviously, someone who has the green light, has the freedom, that is one of the toughest people to guard and toughest to play. We know that. It’s not going to just be on Quentin, not just going to be on myself, or whoever is matched up on him. It’s going to be us as a team. I think that’s going to be the biggest thing with him is making it difficult.”