Quentin Grimes’ shooting skid continues: ‘Every shot I shoot probably weighs 100 pounds if I don’t make it’

MILWAUKEE — Quentin Grimes says he needs more shots — and that he’s not going to be effective if he’s running up and down the floor and only touching the ball once or twice in a half.

Grimes also said he doesn’t feel like he has any margin for error — that if he misses a shot, he’s going to get pulled from a game.

“It feels like if I don’t hit the shot, I’m coming out,” he said in the locker room on Tuesday. “So every shot I shoot probably weighs like 100 pounds if I don’t make it, and our defense, it ain’t cutting it, so I know I ain’t going back in.”

It’s the first time Grimes has spoken publicly since the onset of his shooting skid, which continued its downtrend in his 0-for-1 shooting performance in the Knicks’ loss to the Bucks on Tuesday.

Grimes’ only shot attempt came in the third quarter, and it was generated on a Julius Randle drive to the rim that collapsed the Bucks’ defense, leaving the three-and-D wing wide-open in the corner.

The open shot was a bit rushed and came up well short.

Grimes has now missed 17 of his last 21 shots from downtown for a 19 percent three-point shooting clip over his last seven games. After starting the season as a 40 percent three-point shooter, Grimes’ efficiency has regressed below 35 percent.

Head coach Tom Thibodeau said he’s not considering a lineup change, even though Grimes’ backup, Donte DiVincenzo, was shooting the lights out before his cold night against the Bucks.

“I look at how the unit is functioning. And so, I would say tonight, we didn’t play well, and to put it on Quentin is not fair,” said Thibodeau. “I don’t think we really had anyone who played really well. So, we’re capable of a lot better. You win together; you lose together. Just focus on the improvement and getting ready for the next game.”

Grimes aired his grievances in the locker room postgame, pointing to the Knicks’ offense which functions largely on the shoulders of Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett.

The third-year guard out of Houston ranks bottom-five among qualifying players in total touches this season. Dead-last on the list is Los Angeles Lakers forward Cam Reddish, who shared a similar frustration with his role during his time on the Knicks.

“It’s just hard when you go the whole quarter without touching the ball, the whole second quarter without touching the ball, and then you get one shot and you got to make it,” Grimes said on Tuesday. “So it’s tough going out there and just standing in the corner the whole game. Then you got to make the shot when you shoot the ball one or two times per game. It is what it is. We’ll see.”

Grimes said he doesn’t know how to find a rhythm in the current structure of the team’s offense because it takes shots to find a rhythm, and he hasn’t gotten many shots, let alone touches.

He shot 39.7 percent from downtown from the beginning of the season through Nov. 16 but has since become a non-threat from behind the arc.

“I feel like I just gotta get more shots. You can’t get out of a rhythm unless you shoot the ball,” he said. “So I feel like I’m coming in and I know I’m probably only gonna get one or two shots, and it’s gonna be tough because I’ve gotta make ‘em or I know I’m coming out.

“So it’s tough like that, but you can’t let that dictate your whole game. I feel like I didn’t have to let that dictate my defense. So it’s tough but I know it won’t last forever.”

Grimes said he had more opportunities to score and shoot last season because both Barrett and Brunson missed games for different reasons.

“So I had the ball in my hands a little bit more — I knew I wasn’t coming out,” he said. “I knew I was going to be in there and get more shots, play the whole first quarter, the whole third quarter. I knew I had opportunities to get the ball and get my shots up. Now it’s just a matter if the ball come my way, really.”

Brunson said it’s his job as the leader of the team to get Grimes in rhythm.

“I think most importantly being a good teammate is the first thing I have to do. Just continue to encourage him, make sure he’s aggressive, keeps his confidence. And every player at some point goes through it,” he said on Tuesday. “I just think for us as teammates, we have to be on his side, tell him things are going to happen, continue to do what you do, do your routine, do all the stuff that helped you get here. Continue with your confidence.”

Randle, who found Grimes for an open look he missed in the third quarter, agreed with Brunson.

“Yeah. He has a hard job, a tough role,” he said after the game. “But we’ve gotta do a better job of trying to get him better looks, make him feel more included for sure.”

Grimes said he’s not looking over his shoulder even though the Knicks signed DiVincenzo to a four-year, $47 million deal over the offseason. DiVincenzo has emerged as an impact player during Grimes’ shooting slump, though Grimes is undoubtedly the Knicks’ best defender.

“You come in with a mindset that it’s a new game every time I step on the court, so you just try to have a positive mindset every time I step out there,” he said.

Brunson reiterated it’s on the team to find ways to get Grimes involved. Josh Hart echoed a similar frustration with his role within the offense — that he was not touching the ball and asked to shoot while out of rhythm frequently — but erupted for two straight high-scoring games after sharing his frustrations with reporters.

“Obviously, we have three players in the lineup who all go left, all do a lot of similar things,” said Brunson. “When it comes to Quentin, he’s had to keep with his confidence. He’s going to be open, he’s going to get to do stuff. He’s going to get the ball, so sometimes when the confidence is low it seems like the end of the world. But as teammates we need to pick him up and make sure he gets back on track.”