Quentin Grimes just missed on enjoying sweet revenge against the Knicks in his first game back at The Garden since being traded, shooting 4-for-6 with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to key a Pistons comeback.
Ultimately, Detroit lost on a Josh Hart bucket with 2.8 seconds to go after a scramble for a loose ball that officials later admitted should have led to a foul call on Donte DiVincenzo.
That foul would have all but sealed the win for Grimes and the lowly Pistons, and Grimes knew it.
“I think everybody on the team, everybody in the country thought Ausar got fouled on the loose ball,” Grimes said, via Fred Katz of The Athletic. “Game goes a totally different way if he gets fouled and we get that call. But that's just how it is.”
Grimes still showed flashes of why the Knicks initially coveted him before this season, ramping up the defense while connecting from deep on three of his four tries in the fourth quarter. On one of those triples, he even stared down the Knicks bench on his way down the other end of the floor.
Still, it was mainly all love from The Garden crowd, as they showered Grimes with cheers when he was introduced on Monday night. That was not the case for fellow former Knick Evan Fournier, who heard plenty of boos in his MSG return.
That didn’t sit well with Grimes.
“Yeah, I was [surprised],” Grimes said, via Kristian Winfield of the Daily News. “Evan, that was my vet. He taught me a lot. I think when he got pushed to the bench, he was one of the guys pushing me a lot my rookie year. My whole second year, he was one of the guys telling me what to do out there, cause he’s been there. my rookie year, what’d he do? Break every Knick record for threes or something like that, fourth or fifth in made threes in the whole league that year. So it was kind of not pleasant to see from the fans. I thought he did a lot for this team. When I was here, he was always on time, always professional. But that’s Knicks fans for you, which is how it goes.”