Quentin Grimes vows to stay in ‘attack mode’ for Sixers after breakout performance
A more aggressive Grimes would be a stretch-run boon for the Sixers’ second unit, which enters Monday ranked 28th in the NBA in bench scoring.
MINNEAPOLIS — While sitting next to Quentin Grimes on the bench during the 76ers’ Feb. 7 win at the Phoenix Suns, Tyrese Maxey delivered this message:
“Bro, go out there and just do you,” Maxey told Grimes. “Go hoop.”
Grimes’ off-the-bench spark reappeared Sunday night in the Sixers’ impressive 135-108 bounce-back win against the Timberwolves at the Target Center. The 25-year-old guard totaled 19 points and seven assists, complementing terrific offensive nights from backcourt mates Maxey (39 points and eight assists) and VJ Edgecombe (24 points and seven rebounds).
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Such production provides a crucial lift in the games the Sixers (31-26) play without the injured Joel Embiid and/or suspended Paul George. Yet Grimes’ goal for the rest of the season is to consistently stay in “attack mode,” no matter who is on the floor with him. It would be a stretch-run boon for the Sixers’ second unit, which enters Monday ranked 28th in the NBA in bench scoring (30.6 points per game).
“If I kind of just stick to my game, stick to who I am,” Grimes said Sunday at his locker, “ … good things happen.”
Grimes went 5-of-8 from three-point range, including makes on his first attempt from the top of the key and on a fourth-quarter launch that gave the Sixers a 102-82 advantage and prompted a Timberwolves timeout. Grimes also was a successful playmaker, with dump-off passes to center Adem Bona for inside finishes and a highlight alley-oop lob to Edgecombe in transition.
Coach Nick Nurse also appreciates Grimes’ ability to play long stretches, shifting to different positions while the coach “subbed around him.” For example, Grimes closed the first half as part of a small-ball lineup with three guards and Dominick Barlow at center.
“It looks like he’s settling back into the role we had him in earlier,” Nurse said after the game.
Grimes had flashed that such a resurgence could be percolating in the Sixers’ first two games coming out of the All-Star break. In Thursday’s loss to the Atlanta Hawks, he scored 10 of his 14 points in the first half. He totaled another nine in the first quarter Saturday in a brutal defeat at the New Orleans Pelicans, but he could not carry it through the game as part of the Sixers’ horrendous second-half shooting.
That aligned with Grimes’ inconsistent results throughout the bulk of his first full season in Philly, following a messy, prolonged restricted free agency that resulted in him signing his one-year qualifying offer after the start of training camp.
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Early on, Grimes looked like an NBA Sixth Man of the Year contender as part of a loaded group of young and athletic guards. But he also has dipped into multiple shooting slumps — or low-attempt outings — while also mixing in the occasional reckless defensive close-out that gets whistled as a foul. is averaging 12.8 points on 44.3% shooting, along with 3.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 0.9 steals in 51 games.
The fifth-year guard certainly was never going to hold the same role this season as when he was initially acquired at the 2025 trade deadline, when he became the Sixers’ top offensive option and lead ballhandler with Maxey, Embiid, and George all shut down with injuries. Grimes acknowledges it has been challenging at times to carve out his opportunities whenever those three standouts are all available — and because Edgecombe has surpassed him on the depth chart by becoming an immediate starter as a rookie.
Still, Nurse said last week that he still wants to deliberately target a number of shots for Grimes to fire each game, instead of those attempts regularly emerging in the Sixers’ “random” offense.
Maxey wants six or seven three-pointers out of Grimes, believing he too often pump-fakes and drives when open on the perimeter. When Grimes studies film with player development coach TJ DiLeo in the locker room about an hour before each game, a portion of their focus is on the gaps in the defense that Grimes can exploit to sharply vault up for a shot. Nurse added that Grimes is quite good at creating his own space from a defender, and launching over an outstretched arm trying to contest.
“He can get them off anytime he wants,” Nurse said of Grimes. “ … [We are working on] getting him situations where, ‘Hey, we’re going to get you the ball, and we need you to shake your guy down and shoot the ball here.’
“We’re just going to continue to encourage him.”
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Hence, Maxey’s message from the bench in Phoenix.
Grimes also got a jolt of rejuvenation from the All-Star break, which he spent in Cabo San Lucas acquiring a tan, eating delicious meals, and spending time with his family.
The refresh helped him recommit to that on-court attack mode in the Sixers’ first two games out of the break. But Sunday was the full spark that the Sixers will need from Grimes while Embiid and George remain sidelined and when his team returns to full strength.
“I’ve got to just figure out my spots,” Grimes said. “ … When guys come back, there can’t be no drop-off.”