SAN FRANCISCO — For Donte DiVincenzo, a trip to central California meant two reunions, one with deeper feelings than the other.
In Golden State, where the Knicks play Monday night, feelings toward the organization are anything but warm and fuzzy.
The Warriors helped revive DiVincenzo’s career last season, offering him a chance to earn a big salary worth about $50 million with four guaranteed years with the Knicks.
In Sacramento, where DiVincenzo briefly played in 2022, history took a turn for the worse when the Kings rescinded his qualifying offer just days before free agency.
The organization basically gave up on DiVincenzo.
So before Saturday’s game in Sacramento, Tom Thibodeau discussed perspective with the starting shooting guard.
“It’s nothing crazy. Just a quick one,” DiVincenzo told the Post. “Just to be clear, don’t get too caught up in it. We all know you want to work hard to beat the team in front of you, so stick with it. But one day At the end of the day, when I’m at my best, I’m just focused on making the right plays in this locker room.”
DiVincenzo then dropped 15 points against the Kings. He didn’t shoot well — he missed 11 of 16 attempts, a tough game for the 27-year-old — but the Knicks won and DiVincenzo made his first appearance against the Kings since the Kings dropped him. He improved his record to 5 wins and 1 loss.
DiVincenzo said last season’s matchup felt more personal, but “it was still refreshing that they were going in a different direction.”
“Mentally it was clear. I wasn’t worried about what was going on over there,” DiVincenzo said after his conversation with Thibodeau on Saturday night.
The Warriors reunion is all about love. Stephen Curry helped recruit DiVincenzo and they’ve all been in contact.
“I watch their games a lot because they’re on the West Coast, so we play our game and they usually have a game after,” DiVincenzo said. “Keep in touch with a lot of people. That’s it. It’s just a personal relationship, there’s no special motivation or anything.”
DiVincenzo averaged 9.4 points in his only season with the Warriors, but the team’s campaign was derailed when Draymond Green punched Jordan Poole during practice.
“Everybody’s been there for a long time.” “I just walked in, trying to get my head down,” DiVincenzo said. “I was trying to spread positivity as much as I could. And I still talk to everyone. I talk to Draymond. I talk to Jordan. That’s the reality. It happened.”
DiVincenzo remains the No. 2 scoring option for the Knicks as Julius Randle remains out indefinitely, but his current slump has seen him shoot 33.8 percent from the field over the last eight games. We needed help from a new player.
Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks finally got off the schneid on Saturday against the Kings.
And the bar is low, as they shot just 8-of-21 total, but with Jalen Brunson missing 48 minutes and a timely score in the fourth quarter, they need a win. was.
“That’s huge for us. We know we’re both genius shot makers,” Thibodeau said. “It’s hard to trade during the season, but you know what these guys have done throughout their careers. We’re lucky to have them. [Saturday] Those were big shots, well-timed shots, so it was a good day. ”
Burks logged just over four minutes in Portland’s last game, his fewest minutes in five years. It was the culmination of an ugly game shortly after he was acquired from the Pistons.
But in Sacramento, Burks played over 18 minutes on the court and the Knicks outscored the Kings by 13 points.
