Immanuel Quickley finding his shot now for Knicks
Knicks guard Immanuel Quickley scored 20 points against the Toronto Raptors at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
With Quentin Grimes sidelined by a sprained right ankle Wednesday night, Immanuel Quickley was inserted into the Knicks' starting lineup for the first time this season.
But an odd thing happened. Quickley, who arrived in New York for the 2020-21 season with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau proclaiming, “He can shoot the ball as well as anyone in the league,” has never been hesitant with his trigger. However, in a starting role alongside Julius Randle, RJ Barrett and Jalen Brunson, Quickley went through his first stretch, nearly eight minutes long, and didn’t attempt a shot.
“I don’t think I was open,” he said. “When was I open to shoot the ball? But I don’t try to force no shots. Just take what the defense gives me. If the defense left me open, make shots.
“I think it is a little bit different. I try to make sure I stay aggressive every time I’m on the floor, but obviously being on the court with Julius, RJ, JB -— they have a lot of offensive skill. My role changes a little bit, but I still try to stay aggressive, and when I’m with the second unit, I try to be a little more aggressive.”
If Quickley wasn’t going to force it, he was ready when the shots presented themselves. He was 2-for-2 from the floor in the first half, and when the Knicks took the court down 10 at the start of the second half, he drained three three-pointers in less than three minutes, quickly pushing the Knicks in front. He finished the game with 20 points — he had 22 a night earlier — and went 6-for-9 beyond the arc.
“I thought Quick gave us a really solid game. Really solid,” Thibodeau said. “He’s been playing well, too. So I think the way he’s shooting the ball, we knew that would come around for him. He’s not hesitating. He’s letting it go.”
While Quickley rarely is hesitant, he did note that the shots presented while he was part of the starting lineup were different from the ones he needs to create when leading the second unit.
“The looks I get with the second unit are totally different than the looks I get with the first unit. A lot more catch-and-shoot threes {with the first unit]," Quickley said. "Today I had a lot of open shots. Great teammates, getting in the lane, being able to draw two and able to find the open guy, so it makes it easy.”
With 11 three-pointers in 15 attempts during the past two games, he has pushed his three-point percentage up to 34.6%, identical to last season's number. In the four games before that, he shot 3-for-18 from outside the arc, but he said nothing has changed in his feel or confidence.
“The same way I felt when I missed 10 threes in a row,” Quickley said. “No different.”
Starting is the sort of opportunity Quickley has been seeking as he heads toward the summer eligible for a contract extension. However, Grimes could be back Friday night when the Knicks host Chicago, putting Quickley back in his familiar role.
“[The difference starting is] I know today I was playing big minutes,'' he said. "Any time you know you’re playing minutes, you know you’re not coming off for missing shots or anything like that. Really just trying to stay aggressive throughout the whole game. Really just first of all the defense. That’s the first thing you want to focus on. Everybody talks about shots, but shots come and go — you can always bring it on defense.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
