Donte DiVincenzo started this season as a reserve.
He could end this game with the best 3-point shooting in Knicks history.
After his impressive performance in Saturday’s win over the Nets, DiVincenzo is now 18 treys away from matching Evan Fournier’s 2022 season record of 241.
DiVincenzo told the Post that he’s passionate about being the Knicks’ long-distance king — “Yeah, obviously I want to be on the record” — but that’s not supposed to be the focus. do not have.
“I don’t think about that. Of course I know that, but I don’t go into the game thinking, ‘How many do I need?’ ” DiVincenzo said. “It’s for you guys to talk about, it’s for everyone else to enjoy. But when you start doing it, there’s basketball karma, basketball God. That’s not going to happen. [I want to mess with].
“Basketball has energy. So if you play it the right way, good things will happen.”
That’s an incredible number compared to DiVincenzo’s 223 3-pointers.
Signed in the summer as Quentin Grimes’ backup shooting guard, he hit just 47 treys and averaged 8.6 points in his first 22 games.
However, Grimes was frustrated and struggled as a starter, so DiVincenzo took his place and quickly rose to prominence with immense confidence and shooting license.
Since Dec. 30, when RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were traded to Toronto, DiVincenzo has averaged 3.94 treys per game, leading his season total to first in the Eastern Conference.
He is matched only by former West teammates Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic.
If DiVincenzo plays in the remaining 12 games, he only needs to average 1.5 3-pointers to set the record. He’s more than double that at 39.5 percent per game, so it’s a very achievable goal.
His 223 treys are already second all-time, recently surpassing Julius Randle’s 218 (achieved in 2023) and John Starks’ 217 (1995).
This record is by no means sacrosanct due to the rise in 3-point shooting in the NBA, but considering DiVincenzo, a six-year veteran, hasn’t come close to this mark in previous seasons. Still, it’s an impressive record.
He also pushed his scoring average to a career-high 14.5 points.
“It’s amazing to think [about the record]” DiVincenzo said. “Going back to when we signed here, we didn’t even know that record existed until someone brought it up in January, when we had made seven or eight records.” [3-pointers] One night. And I thought, “That would be cool.”
“But it was so far away that I never really thought about it. To be honest, this is 1) a credit and a testament to who I’m playing with and 2) who I’m playing with. Do you want to play for?”
DiVincenzo, who signed a four-year deal worth about $50 million, was a big supporter of Tom Thibodeau, giving him the freedom to hit the ground running as long as the grunt work was accomplished.
“That’s the fundamentals, defense and rebounding. DiVincenzo said, if you defend and rebound and do what he asks, it’s the green light on offense.” “Within reason, that’s up to you. There’s no situation where he’s like, ‘Don’t shoot that shot.’ He wants everyone to play with maximum confidence as long as they are playing on the defensive side. ”
Still, DiVincenzo noticed how his increased production and usage drew more attention from opposing defenses.
Randle and OG Anunoby were noticeably absent from the lineup, and when Jalen Brunson sat, like on February 8 against the Mavericks, DiVincenzo dropped a career-high 36 points, but the Knicks lost. This is especially true at times.
“They just want to be physical and not let me touch the ball,” he said. “In the past year I’ve just gotten more open threes. Now they’re competing and running off screens, which is something I’m used to now.”
It made the shots more difficult, but it also made more shots.
“I think it’s a matter of who you play with. When you’re playing with Clay [Thompson], you’re playing with Steph, the offense is running through them,” said DiVincenzo, who played for the Warriors last season. “They’re taking a lot of shots. And I was also playing with Jordan Poole. So I had 150. [3-pointers] I was there last year, but this year anyone can hit with a pass pass. There is no focus on two or three people taking shots. ”
For DiVincenzo, the result is likely record-breaking.
Coincidentally, he will face the man he is chasing, Fournier, on Monday. He is currently with the Pistons and has established himself into a big role on the bench heading into the game at MSG.
Fournier knows his mark will be overturned.
“Donte is a hell of a shooter,” the Frenchman said last month when he last played at MSG. “I’m pretty confident he’ll beat it, no doubt.”
