Starting shooting guard Quentin Grimes’ playing time had been cut dramatically in the Knicks’ first six games (all wins) following the trade-deadline pickup of Josh Hart.
Grimes had been averaging 34.2 minutes per game since joining the starting lineup in late November, but he’s logged just 21.8 per appearance since Hart’s arrival after scoring five points in 21 minutes in Monday’s 109-94 win over the Celtics.
“The big thing is, when you have quality depth, you have versatility. Just go out and go as hard as you can,” Tom Thibodeau said. “That’s what I like about Quentin. He’s played long minutes, he’s played short minutes. You can start him, you can bring him off the bench and he’s going to be the same every day. We’ve got a bunch of guys — [Immanuel Quickley is] the same way.
“I’ve mentioned this before; Even though Quick and Josh, even though they’re not starting, I view them as starters. So those guys will be rotating in and out and I think it keeps them where we can play a high-energy game. I think that’s a plus for us.”
Top players taking games off for load management have been a hotly debated topic for the past several years in the NBA, but the Knicks’ lone All-Star has been showing up to play every game.
Julius Randle has started all 63 games for the Knicks this season, including 23 points in Monday’s win.
Randle sat out the final five games of last season with a hamstring injury, and missed two earlier in the year due to COVID-19 protocols. The previous season he also appeared in 71 of the team’s 72 games in the pandemic-shortened campaign.
“With us he’s been very, very durable,” Thibodeau said. “We have a bunch of guys that are like that. I think it says a lot about them, their commitment to play.
“Obviously we don’t want anyone out there who’s injured. But being in great shape, you prepare yourself for what you want your body to do and knowing that it’s going to be a challenge all year. It’s an 82-game schedule. I think when you do that, you put a lot of time into the offseason into being in great shape.”