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HOUSTON \u2014 Sitting courtside at the Toyota Center following the 76ers<\/a>\u2019 Wednesday practice, Quentin Grimes reminisced about his \u201cspecial\u201d night the last time he played inside this building. <\/p>\n The combo guard was not meticulously keeping track of each point he scored as his total climbed to a career-high 46 last March. But he was living out the sports clich\u00e9 of \u201cbeing locked in and in that zone.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re not even worried about what\u2019s going on,\u201d Grimes recalled to The Inquirer. \u201cYou feel like you can\u2019t miss.\u201d <\/p>\n It was poetic that his career performance occurred in front of friends and family in his hometown. It also happened in an overtime loss at the Rockets, while the Sixers unleashed Grimes as their top offensive option during their \u201ctank\u201d down the stretch of a woeful 2024-25 season.<\/p>\n \u00bb READ MORE: What are the best playoff matchups for the Sixers? We rank the potential first-round and play-in opponents.<\/a><\/p>\n The team circumstances are much different \u2014 and preferable \u2014 for Grimes\u2019 latest visit to Houston more than a year later. The Sixers (43-36) are in the thick of the race for Eastern Conference postseason seeding, toggling between a guaranteed first-round series and needing to advance there through the play-in tournament. Thursday\u2019s matchup against the Rockets, who are fighting for positioning in the West, will be crucial in determining the Sixers\u2019 fate. <\/p>\n Where does Grimes\u2019 ideal role land in all of this? His responsibilities have fluctuated throughout the season because of teammates\u2019 injuries and some personal inconsistencies. On Wednesday, he evaluated his performance this season as \u201csolid,\u201d believing he \u201cmaximized\u201d all the different opportunities while averaging 13.7 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists in 72 games. <\/p>\n And even when the Sixers are at full strength, as they hope to be for the rest of the way, Grimes views his fit as the \u201csame as the whole season.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cBe in attack mode. Be a good on-ball defender. Make plays for myself and teammates,\u201d Grimes said last week. \u201cThe whole year has asked for me to do different things. But I feel like, when the whole team\u2019s healthy, my natural self is still playing my same game I\u2019ve been playing the whole year.\u201d <\/p>\n Still, Grimes acknowledged he is trying to get back in the flow of the Sixers offense with Tyrese Maxey<\/a>, Joel Embiid<\/a>, Paul George<\/a>, and Kelly Oubre Jr. all reintegrating during the last two weeks. The 25-year-old Grimes is coming off consecutive quiet outings, going scoreless on 0-for-4 shooting in Saturday\u2019s home loss to the Detroit Pistons and totaling five points on 2-of-7 shooting in Monday\u2019s defeat at the San Antonio Spurs. <\/p>\n Grimes said Wednesday that he hopes to get himself going early against the Rockets. He gets into that \u201cattack mode\u201d mindset by chatting with his father, Marshall, and personal trainer, Ben Perkins, who remind him not to overthink on the court and play with the freedom of summer workouts. That has helped Grimes connect on 57.7% of his two-point attempts \u2014 often while relentlessly driving to the rim and drawing fouls \u2014 even while shooting a career-low 33.1% from three-point range. <\/p>\n \u201cEverybody that has the ability to get downhill and to vault up and shoot threes and do those kind of things,\u201d coach Nick Nurse<\/a> recently said when asked recently about Grimes\u2019 personal mantra. \u201cI want them all being super aggressive.\u201d <\/p>\n The coach acknowledges that Grimes\u2019 Sixers tenure has come \u201cright in the middle of all this change, constantly.\u201d Grimes\u2019 go-to scoring capabilities resurfaced when Maxey was sidelined for three weeks last month, including in a season-high 31-point effort in a March 15 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers. <\/p>\n