CLEVELAND — The sold-out Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse crowd was on its feet, doing its best to get into Quentin Grimes’ head.
Donovan Mitchell whispered in his ear, trying to rattle the second-year guard.
Make the free throws, and the Knicks’ Game 1 victory was guaranteed. Miss one — or both — and suddenly all bets were off.
This was one helluva way for Grimes to dip his toes into the playoff waters, stepping to the line with the Knicks ahead by two and 4.1 seconds left.
“I was pretty calm when I went up there,” he said.
The first shot went in and out and in again.
Then Mitchell tried to shake him.
“He was just like, he didn’t like the first one because it rattled in a little bit,” Grimes recalled. “So I was like, ‘You’re going to like this next one.’ ”
He added: “[Mitchell] tried to get in my head a little bit. I’m too tough for that.”
The second attempt was nothing but net.
The Knicks went on to win the opener, and Grimes was one of the heroes for icing the thrilling contest that gave the underdog Knicks home-court advantage.
“I think it really didn’t set in until after the game — that really was my first playoff game and [I] had to go to the line and make two big-time free throws,” Grimes said. “But during the game you’re so locked in, trying to focus on winning the game. It didn’t really hit me until after the game. I was like, ‘Oh wow, those were pretty big free throws in my first playoff game, for sure.’ ”
It was otherwise a nondescript game on the offensive end for Grimes.
He attempted just four shots and hit one of them, a 3-pointer.
His role for Game 2 may be different.
With super-sub and defensive stalwart Josh Hart doubtful due to a sprained left ankle, Grimes may end up playing more than the 27 minutes he logged in the opener.
More will be needed from him at both ends of the floor. He could wind up spending even more time defending the All-Star Mitchell.
“I don’t think it’s really any more pressure. I feel like I’ve been guarding the best player from the other team the whole season,” Grimes said. “So I feel like it’s just another night, for sure. Just the stakes are a little bit higher.
“I’m just going to come in a little more sharper, just knowing that if he doesn’t play, I just have to be more alert at all times … whether I got Darius [Garland] or Donovan. I know [Hart’s] a fighter, he’s going to try to give it a go for sure. So I’m not even really worried about that.”