Donte DiVincenzo honestly believed the record he set Monday night would be erased just 48 hours later.
After a game in which DiVincenzo set a Knicks franchise record with 11 3-pointers in Monday’s game against the Pistons, Miles McBride was the lone player in the Knicks’ 45 points in the first quarter Wednesday night in Toronto. He sank six 3-point shots.
The rising third-year guard had totaled nine treys when Tom Thibodeau pulled him and the rest of the starters midway through the fourth quarter for a season-high 145-101 win over the Raptors. .
“Actually, I was interested. I thought Thisbus was going to leave him there. I actually wanted him to do that,” DiVincenzo said after the game. “But obviously we had grown a lot.
“I said [McBride] I’m sure he’ll have another chance to get it. ”
The player known as Deuce will get that chance if he continues his recent proficiency shooting from the outside.
DiVincenzo is looking to set another franchise record for 3 points. He will enter Friday’s road game against the Spurs, two points behind Evan Fournier’s 241 points for the year.
But over the course of the season, McBride actually stopped the Knicks by shooting 42.2 percent from 3-point range, ahead of Jalen Brunson (40.1 percent) and DiVincenzo (40.0 percent).
In the 17 games since the All-Star break, McBride’s number has increased to 44.1 percent (41 of 93).
Through Wednesday’s league play, only three NBA players had a higher percentage all season: Grayson Allen (47.8), Luke Kennard (45.4) and Jrue Holiday (44.5).
“I’m open, shoot. That’s all I’m thinking about,” McBride said. “Everyone gave me great passes and prepared me correctly, so I was able to shoot with confidence.
“I definitely think that whenever I put it up in the air, it’s going to come in, so give me some kind of space and I’ll let it go.”
That confidence has been the driving force behind the former second-round pick’s dramatic growth and rise, but with sporadic playing time in his first two NBA seasons, his career shooting percentage from deep was only 28.2.
McBride, 23, wasn’t even part of the team’s regular rotation until midway through the season, but now it’s hard to imagine the two-way guard not playing a key role even when the Knicks are at full strength.
He’s averaged 44.3 minutes in his past five appearances and clearly has Thibodeau’s trust.
“I think it’s a good question to ask, where does confidence come from? Well, it comes from your effort, it comes from your preparation,” Thibodeau said when asked about McBride. “And if you look at the results, and we saw it in practice, the amount of shots he took in practice and the accuracy of his shots, and when he came back to training camp, it was obvious.
“Now his role has expanded and he has good rhythm and can really shoot the ball. And on top of that, his defense is top-notch. We’ve got some elite guys coming in, so it’s great to watch. was special.”
Offensively, McBride scored a career-high 29 points (18 in the first quarter) in 40 minutes against the Raptors and added seven assists.
His six 3-pointers in the first quarter tied John Starks (1998) and Quentin Richardson (2008) for the most by a Knick in a single quarter.
But McBride insisted he wasn’t thinking about DiVincenzo’s single-game team record, which he set two days earlier.
He was going to break the Knicks’ 3-point record on Wednesday. Robert Szabo of the New York Post
“Honestly, I wanted to win the game. That’s all I cared about,” McBride said. “I have always believed in my work.
“I know some people have said the numbers and the results don’t show it. But I always trusted it and trusted God to go out and show me what I’m capable of. .”
McBride’s recent rise has been one of the keys to the Knicks (44-28) winning seven of their last eight games and clinching third place in the Eastern Conference playoffs with 10 games remaining.
“That’s not our focus, but we’re definitely looking there,” McBride said. “It’s the league that wants to move up the table, that’s always understandable.
“I think the biggest thing is what we can do to keep winning games and put ourselves in the best position to get home court advantage.”
