HE HAD TO BE A BIG SHOT
Knicks’ DiVincenzo worked hard on 3-pointer, and so far he’s proved it to the Garden crowd
Donte DiVincenzo doesn’t know the number of shots he got up each day. He doesn’t know exactly how many hours he spent in the gym this offseason, either.
DiVincenzo does know he was locked-in in his approach to his craft. Tom Thibodeau knows the same. So does Jalen Brunson. The stat sheet is well-informed now, too. The Knicks’ lone offseason acquisition is on a heater from downtown. One night after hitting five threes against the Charlotte Hornets, DiVincenzo nearly doubled that number with nine threes on 15 attempts for 33 points in Tuesday’s 118-103 victory over the Utah Jazz.
The sweet-shooting guard came one triple shy of tying a Knicks franchise record 10 threes set originally by J.R. Smith in April 2024, then tied by Evan Fournier in January 2022.
The fruits of the labor laid down during the summer.
“I was just going in every day and taking shots. Um, you gotta ask them the numbers. I don’t even know,” he said after the game on Tuesday. “I’m just in there for hours on end, shooting and having a good time and playing music.
“I kind of get lost in the gym. That’s where I like to be. So, the offseason is where you put in all the work. But staying consistent throughout the year, good game, bad game, doesn’t matter. Come back in and get in the work.”
Tuesday marked DiVincenzo’s 11th game in the month of January with at least three made threes in a game, his fourth game in the month with five or more threes, and the fourth game of the season with seven or more.
DiVincenzo is shooting 42.6% from downtown on the season. He ranks third among players who attempt at least six threes per game and have appeared in at least half of their team’s games, behind only Milwaukee’s flamethrower Malik Beasley and New Orleans’ veteran scorer C.J. McCollum.
DiVincenzo is shooting 46.7% from the left corner, 58.7% from the right corner and 38.8% on above-the-break threes.
Thibodeau said his commitment level to honing his craft is responsible for his breakout shooting season.
“I wasn’t around him when he was with other teams, but if you look at the way he’s trended throughout his career, he usually starts OK and then he builds as the season goes along,” the Knicks coach said. “The thing that impressed me was as soon as we signed him, he was coming in every day and putting a lot of time into his shot. So I felt like it was really smart for him to do that.
“Now, he’s been with a lot of different teams. So I think feeling good about the way you’re shooting the ball is important, and then some of the teammates that he’s played with before, so I think that helped. But he hit the ground running, and the thing I love about him: He doesn’t hesitate. So if he’s open, he just lets it go, and he’s been shooting the ball great, and obviously that opens up the floor.”
Brunson figured this day would come. He’d seen DiVincenzo’s workout habits as college teammates at Villanova.
“His work I think has been consistent. It gets better and better every single year,” he said. “Now that he’s growing as a player and then, just the way, the confidence he has no matter what the situation is comes from his work ethic. Seeing that is special and like I said before, it was really cool seeing guys used to work with almost eight or seven years ago, whatever it was, and seeing where we are now is pretty cool.”
The Knicks will continue to lean on DiVincenzo’s scoring presence short-handed entering February.
Julius Randle will be out an extended period of time with a dislocated right shoulder, and OG Anunoby is day-to-day after missing his second consecutive game with right elbow inflammation.
DiVincenzo is averaging 31.5 points per game in the two games he’s seen an increased offensive share down two offensive stars.
“I’m just catching and shooting. I’m taking open shots,” he said. “You know there’s a big hole and a void with two of our main guys out. Just playing collectively together and just catching and shooting and being aggressive.”