Steve Kerr predicted over the summer that Tom Thibodeau and New York would love Donte DiVincenzo, and more than six months later, it’s still impossible to dispute that claim.
The Warriors head coach will get a first-hand look at the Knicks’ starting shooting guard’s progress on Thursday night during the team’s only visit to Madison Square Garden this season.
DiVincenzo has averaged an impressive 16.7 points and a .423 3-point shooting percentage in 40 games since joining the starting lineup in December, and has been a consistent presence for the Knicks, who have been hit by injuries recently. .
His career rise began in his only season with Golden State a year ago, and he signed a free agent contract with the Knicks last summer.
“It’s not even basketball, it’s just life. All those players, I only spent one year there, but it was a really, really good year for me on and off the court,” DiVincenzo said on Tuesday. After the loss to the Pelicans, he talked about the Warriors. “Those guys hugged me. The staff hugged me, Steve, everyone there.
“So I still hear from them. I’m still in touch with them. I mean, I’m looking forward to playing against them, but at the same time when they’re out on the streets and playing against them and I’m just looking forward to seeing everything.”
In his first four NBA seasons with the Bucks and Kings, DiVincenzo shot just 34.7 percent from 3-point range, but that number rose to 39.7 percent in 72 games (36 starts) last year, tied for two games. set a career high. MVP Stephen Curry of the Warriors.
After DiVincenzo declined his $4.7 million option, the Knicks made him a primary target in the offseason and signed him to a four-year contract worth $50 million in July, joining former Villanova teammate Jalen Brunson and Josh・I was reunited with Heart.
“Tom will love him because Donte is a grinder. He’s gritty and plays hard on every possession. Tom will love that,” Kerr told the Post’s Zach Braziler at Summer League in Las Vegas. told. “His competitive nature will be a great fit.
“Last year, it really struck me that the Knicks are a competitive group. Thisbus is going to love him, and Villanova’s relationship with Josh and Jaylen. That’s true, those guys [NCAA] We became champions together since college. I think that connection will help, and then he’ll give them another two-way player, a guy who can handle the ball and make plays and can defend on the other end. People like that are extremely valuable. ”
Especially since DiVincenzo, 26, has stayed mostly healthy during his first season with the Knicks. He missed one game this month with a hamstring issue, but he is tied with Hart for the team’s most games played with 58.
With Brunson sidelined with neck spasms and Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles tendon), Julius Randle (shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) out of the lineup, DiVincenzo is a long-range guy. He completed 7 of 18 shots and scored 23 points. They lost against the Pelicans on Tuesday. This marked the second most attempts from beyond the arc in a single game in franchise history, behind J.R. Smith’s 22 in 2014.
DiVincenzo, who has already made 184 3-pointers since the trade, is on pace to surpass Evan Fournier’s franchise record of 241 in 2021-22.
“Overall, everything. Hustle. Shooting,” Thibodeau said Tuesday when asked what DiVincenzo has brought to the Knicks this season. “He shot really well coming into the season and got off to a great start. And I thought that was a byproduct of the work he put in over the summer.
“He went all out and didn’t stop. He was another guy and with all of his players out, he really grew during this period. This is probably his best stretch of basketball and he played on both sides of the ball.” We are doing that with.”
