Donte DiVincenzo may carry more of the Knicks‘ offense after the weekend trade that sent RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley to Toronto, writes Peter Botte of The New York Post. DiVincenzo hit seven three-pointers and scored a career-high 38 points Saturday night, although he was disappointed that it came in a loss at Indiana.
“To be completely honest with you, I don’t even care about the 38, and I’m not just saying that,” DiVincenzo said. “I like to win games. Individual achievements are cool, but even Josh (Hart) said it the other day, stats don’t mean anything when you lose. That’s really our mindset here. So it’s cool, I’ll pat myself on the back, the guys are happy for me, but at the same time, we have to focus on that we have a hell of a game on Monday (at home against the Timberwolves).”
The offseason signing of DiVincenzo appears to be more important than ever with two scoring wings gone from the roster. He’s been averaging 12.9 points per game and shooting 47.4% from three-point range since moving into the starting lineup on December 8, and Jalen Brunson expects that hot streak to continue.
“Him playing the way he did, I’ve seen it plenty of times,” Brunson said. “Obviously, (I’m) happy with the way he’s playing. I wish we could have made his career night more memorable by winning. So we’ve got to be better.”
There’s more from New York:
- Mitchell Robinson reacted to the trade in a discussion with fans on SnapChat, relays Bryan Fonseca of The New York Post. The injured center said it’s difficult to see two long-time teammates leave so suddenly. “Two of my soldiers are gone, you know what I mean? What you gonna do, you know what I mean? I know they’re gonna go over there to Toronto and handle their business, play hard,” he said. “It’s a business at the end of the day, so I mean, yeah it is upsetting seeing two guys that you built a relationship with leave, it is crazy but, I mean, what you gonna do, you know? It’s a business at the end of the day.”
- With the Knicks short-handed following the deal, Evan Fournier got a rare chance to play Saturday night, Botte notes in another Post story. Getting off the bench for the first time since November 17, Fournier shot 3-of-10 and scored 10 points in 17 minutes. “Happy to play, for sure, but the game is fast. … It’s never easy to play a game after being on the bench for a while,” Fournier said. “I tried to give my best effort.”
- Quentin Grimes was eager to get started on what figures to be an expanded role, but he was held out of Saturday’s game with a bad cold, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
What are you gonna do?
It’s business. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? It’s business at the end of the day.(apparently not sure what to call it in the morning) What are you gonna do? It’s business. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do?
How high was dude when he wrote that post? Please tell me he was high and is not that unintelligent. Please tell me that.
How high are you? He didn’t write the post, those were spoken words, reading is fundamental.
This is what a true fanatic looks like.
you know what i mean, you know?
Does Evan Fournier have any future in the league?
Why wouldn’t he ????
The NBA has never been more depedent on 3pt shooting. Fournier shoots 3’s. He could thrive playing off elite playmakers like Luka, Fox, Halliburton, etc.
He’ll get the chance to showcase his skills on team France at next summer’s Paris Olympics.
DiV is a terrific complete player, always has been. But ONLY in this era could a non-star so routinely score 38 points. The number of wide open 3 pointers increases each year, and it’s making large parts of NBA games akin to 3 point shooting contests. It may be what the modern fan wants to see, but any real fan of the game has to find it harder and harder to watch.
Absolute Facts!!
Open looks are good shots. But pushing for and looking to shoot threes is exhausting. It’s like they forget to run an offense. Putting pressure on D down low. Gets a team in foul trouble. And gets you open threes by throwing it back out. It Is hard to watch at times.
The win or die by the 3 is getting obnoxious. I don’t see any rule changes that would fix it.
Is it just me or is this Knicks team just really likable??
It’s you.
I agree, as a 40 year Knicks fan I can say this group is one of my favourites from a likability standpoint. Nothing will beat the 1992-1999 Knicks squads for me, but the Nova players specifically (Brunson, DiV, and Hart) all came up through the Jay Wright school of “whatever the team needs to win.”
Fellow 40ish lifelong fan. Agreed. Most likable Knick team since those 90s squads. Just a nice mix of young dudes and guys who play the game hard and with passion and seem to like each other. IQ and RJ were a big part of that, but it seems like the right culture is finally there and that shouldn’t change because of the trade..
Knicks miss Mitch …..
Sims and Achiuwa have to hold it down with Hartenstein. I really wouldn’t mind picking up a D center. Drummond being from Mount Vernon north of the NYC. Would be nice.
Donte had a career night. So did Haliburton. And Pacers dropped 140 pts on Knicks. “Knicks miss Mitch”.
Donte should be given the chance to start. The guy I’m more interested in is Grimes. I hope this trade wakes him up. Needs to be more assertive and claim that position. Want to see him fight for it. SG is the position Knicks could target for next trade. So it’s really there for the taking.
Right now it’s team D. That needs the adjustment. I believe this trade addresses that some. But the rim protection and rebounding. Has to be done by committee. Knicks have been giving up over 120 pts since Mitch went down.
I can’t believe Minny is best team right now. I’m still waiting for them to fail. Going to get a good look at them today.
TWolves beat Knicks by 17 first meeting. They come in as best team in West today. Without Mitch this going to be telling. I just want to see both OG and Achiuwa play well today.
Maybe Randle finslly gets dealt unless they love him that much.
I can tell you Thibs loves him. It takes two to trade ……
Agreed on both points. Randle doesn’t seem to be a player that would be a Thibs favourite, but the two definitely seem tight.
I also agree on the two for a trade comment. I do think the Knicks value Randle more than most of the league’s other teams would. It’s funny to say that about a guy with two All-Star/All NBA nods in the last three years, but that seems to be the case. Personally, if there was a deal out there that would bring the Knicks back even equal value, I would pull the trigger. His game helps you win in the regular season, but isn’t geared towards winning in the Playoffs.
That may be true, but with a better roster and the right balance of defense/shooting/clutch playmaking, maybe that unlocks a different Julius in the playoffs. Look, he struggled badly vs Atlanta but that was with no Brunson, then he was playing injured last year and we shouldn’t hold that against him too much. He’s already shown the ability this year to play more to his strengths, shoot less from deep, and trust his teammates more. He’s got his flaws but we’re lucky to have him. Now we just need to keep tweaking the roster the right way based on his and Brunson‘s strengths. The big OG move is a good start, I hope and believe..
I just think Randle wants it too much. And feels the pressure that he has to be the guy. He has to trust his teammates for real success. And let’s face it. Brunson is the first guy he can look up to. Others were young or not ready. Hope he gets it now.