MIAMI — Quentin Grimes’ camp apparently is unhappy with his postseason usage by the Knicks, which has been punctuated by a demotion from the starting lineup to the second unit since returning from a shoulder injury.
A Twitter user identifying himself as a business manager for Grimes with the username Matthew Z. and @mattkeepgoing posted “Free QG” on the social media site soon after the Knicks’ Game 3 loss to the Heat on Saturday night.
Grimes’ manager is known to be Matt Evans, who the second-year guard has known since he was a teenager growing up in the Houston area.
The account also replied Sunday to a Grimes highlight video posted by another user asking “what happened to this Quentin Grimes? Bro used to play like Zach LaVine,” referring to the two-time All-Star guard with the Bulls.
“This Quentin Grimes is alive and well and still getting better, ball ain’t in his hands to show you better than you know,” Matthew Z. tweeted.
Shortly after the tweets went viral on Sunday, the bio that referred to the user as Grimes’ manager was scrubbed from the account, although the tweets were not deleted.
The 22-year-old Grimes made 66 starts during the regular season and then the first three games of the opening round against Cleveland before sitting out the final two with a shoulder contusion.
He has come off the bench in all three games against the Heat, ceding his starting spot to midseason acquisition Josh Hart.
Grimes averaged 11.3 points per game in the regular season, but that number has dipped to 4.3 over six postseason appearances. He scored eight points in 22 minutes off the bench in Saturday’s Game 3 loss, but he’s missed 15 of 18 3-point attempts in this year’s playoffs.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Knicks vs. Heat NBA playoff series
- Vaccaro: Knicks’ failure to help Brunson is why their season’s over
- Knicks battle but fall in season-ending Game 6 loss to Heat
- Knicks couldn’t survive two minutes without Brunson
- Brunson’s heroic night spoiled by late turnover
Tom Thibodeau said Sunday that “everything is on the table” for Game 4, but he wouldn’t say whether he planned to make a lineup change involving Grimes and Hart.
“When you get to the playoffs, you’re looking at matchups,” Thibodeau said. “When a guy comes back from an injury, is he completely healthy coming back?
“So you look at all aspects of it. In some ways it could be better. It could impact another area. The bottom line is we all have to play a lot better.”