LAS VEGAS – After a brutal shooting performance at the start of the summer league on Sunday, Immanuel Quickley reacted with verve and scored 32 points with eight assists when the Knicks beat the Pacers 94-86 at UNLV on Monday.
Quickley started a second game in a row at point guard and looked a lot more comfortable than at the start of the summer league on Sunday, when he shot 5 out of 17 overall and 2 out of 11 out of 3.
The all-rookie of the second team drilled 4 out of 12 3-pointers and finished 11 out of 21 overall. Obi Toppin, the 2020 first-round pick, scored 21 points in a productive performance. Neither Quickley nor Toppin had the benefits of the Summer League last season after being drafted in November due to the pandemic.
Quickley looked a lot safer on Monday as he led the offensive and even got in the paint. Last season, in particular, he excelled for being unprepared, and this is an experiment with him at this point.
Miles McBride was also solid as a backup point guard. The 2021 second-round pick from West Virginia scored 14 points out of 5 out of 7, 2 out of 3 from the 3-point country.
The only downer was the 2021 first-round pick, Quentin Grimes, whose shot was in a second straight Missed excursion at destination. He finished with six points on the 2-out-of-10 shoot-out. Grimes’ deepest moment came when a fastbreak drive was blocked by Indiana swingman Chris Duarte. Duarte also blocked a toppin runner with two hands.
Duarte of Oregon finished with 14 points – 3-out-of-7 out of 3. He was targeted by the Knicks as they attempted their 19th pick and 21st Swap pick for Indiana’s 13th, but to no avail.
According to a source, Knicks Senior VP William was Wesley Duarte’s biggest fan. Wesley sat on the courtside in Vegas on Monday and watched Duarte have a good trip.
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