WATCH: Quentin Grimes put arm-bar merchant Jaylen Brown in a blender during Game 5

I don’t like Quentin Grimes. I’ve never liked Quentin Grimes. He has spent the better part of this season giving me absolutely no reason to like Quentin Grimes. He is the most inconsistent player on this roster and every time I think he’s turned a corner he comes out the next game and reminds me why I had my doubts in the first place.

Tuesday night in Boston, Grimes was rough early. A turnover that led to a Tatum fast-break layup. Derrick White blowing past him for an easy bucket. The usual Grime Time experience where you spend the first 15 minutes wondering why this man is getting playoff minutes.

Not Dead Yet: Joel Embiid carries the Sixers to a Game 5 win in Boston >>

Then he flipped a switch in the second half and finished with 18 points on 5-for-8 shooting. His four-point play in the second quarter was a momentum swing when the Sixers desperately needed one. His three off an Embiid double-team assist in the fourth was one of the biggest shots of the night.

Quentin Grimes For Three

https://t.co/RGNsERIb9H pic.twitter.com/8LSVSXOTrl

— Philadelphia 76ers (@sixers) April 29, 2026

When Grimes is cooking, he can keep the Sixers’ offense alive during stretches where the starters are resting or struggling. The problem is that version of Grimes shows up maybe twice a week and the rest of the time you’re getting the guy who turns it over and gets blown by on defense.

That Defensive Sequence on Jaylen Brown Was Incredible

I need to talk about this because it deserves its own section. There was a defensive possession Tuesday night where Grimes picked up Jaylen Brown full court and absolutely smothered him.

He took up nearly the entire shot clock and forced a miss. It was elite-level perimeter defense against one of the best wings in basketball and if Grimes played like that on every possession, he’d be one of the most valuable role players in the league.

Quentin Grimes should do this all the time:

I would just like to see more of it. A lot more of it. Specifically from Quentin Grimes on Thursday night in Game 6 when the Sixers’ season is on the line.

If he can bring that defensive intensity for 20-plus minutes while also knocking down open threes, the Sixers have a real chance to force a Game 7. If he comes out Thursday and gives us the first-half version from Tuesday, the Celtics are going to eat him alive.

While I’m At It

Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum literally extend their arms and push off every single time they touch the basketball. Every possession. It gets called maybe three times a game when it should be called every time down the floor.

The amount of offensive fouls those two get away with on a nightly basis is criminal and the officials have decided that superstar calls in Boston extend to creating space with a full arm extension that would be a foul on anyone else in the league.

It’s infuriating to watch and it makes defensive sequences like what Grimes did on Tuesday even more impressive because he did it clean against a guy who gets away with murder on every other possession.

Shoutout Quentin Grimes. Life on the Sixers’ bench changes everything when he’s engaged. Combine that with Embiid dominating in the post and suddenly this team looks like it belongs in a playoff series against the Celtics. The Sixers need that exact version of Grimes one more time on Thursday.

You still won’t make me like you, Quentin Grimes but keep playing like that and I’ll at least stop complaining about your minutes.

Also, shoutout to the big dawggggggg

Big dawgggggg @JoelEmbiid 🐐 #THTP | #Embiid | #Sixers pic.twitter.com/uod7oOgcfg

— The Liberty Line (@LibertyLinePHL) April 29, 2026

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