Donte DiVincenzo hit ELEVEN 3-pointers to break the Knick single-game record, and scored 40 points overall as the Knicks ROMPED over the hapless Detroit Pistons on a Monday night at Madison Square Garden, 124-99.
The score was 9-8 early, and then NY put the hammer down — going on a 20-0 run to make it a 29-8 game, and they romped from there, leading by 30 points for most of the night. At one point DiVincenzo was 9-11 from 3, and finished 11-20 from 3 and 14-23 overall; super-efficient scoring.
DiVincenzo broke the Knick record of 10 three-pointers in a game held by Evan Fournier and JR Smith. He tied the record for most 3-pointers hit this season; the all-time record for a game is 14.
DiVincenzo would have had 12 3-pointers, but one of his 3’s in the 3rd quarter was later taken away because the refs ruled he had first stepped out of bounds, his sneaker just touching the out-0f-bounds stripe.
Detroit was missing 8 of their rotation players due to injury, including Cade Cunningham, Simone Fontecchio, Jalen Duren, and Quentin Grimes — so the game became the Knicks against James Wiseman and Detroit’s reserves and G Leaguers.
Jalen Brunson added 28 points and Josh Hart had another triple-double, his 6th of the season, with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. But this was DiVincenzo’s night.
As DiVincenzo approached the record, all of Madison Square Garden got behind him imploring him to shoot. Knick teammates kept finding him with the ball.
“It’s an amazing feeling having the crowd behind you,” DiVincenzo said afterwards, “but also like every time you touch the ball, they’re like, ‘Shoot! Shoot!”
NY improves to 43-28, in 4th place in the East a half game behind Cleveland. Detroit falls to 12-60.
1. Knicks Break It Open in 1st Quarter with 20-0 Run
The score was 9-8 Knicks in the 1st quarter when NY laid the hammer down with a 20-0 run. It started with a Miles McBride 3, a DiVincenzo drive, a Josh Hart 3, and then a Jalen Brunson 3 — and NY was up 20-8.
NY was defending well and passing the ball crisply on offense, hitting open men for rhythm 3’s.
Isaiah Hartenstein made back-to-back buckets inside, Brunson hit 2 free throws, and then DiVincenzo hit his second 3 of the night and NY was up 29-9.
DEUCE SLAM INCOMING 📲 pic.twitter.com/Q1Fy35rOTO
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 26, 2024
2. DiVincenzo ON FIRE in 3rd
DiVincenzo would make one more 3 pointer in the 1st quarter and 2 more 3-pointers in the 2nd quarter, making him 5-7 from 3 at the half; NY with a 59-42 halftime lead.
And then he really got hot in the 3rd.
He hit back-to-back-to-back 3’s on 3 successive plays for a 76-50 Knick lead with 7:49 left.
DiVincenzo hit his next 3 a few minutes later and NY was up 79-52. Then he blocked a drive by Jaden Ivey.
At this point he was 9-11 from 3!
40 PIECE! @Divincenzo had himself a night pic.twitter.com/gi0RSJAIJp
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) March 26, 2024
“Donte DiVincenzo flat-out shooting the ball and he also puts himself in position to hit his shot before shooting the ball,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Donte understands the art of space by moving without the ball, use of screens then catching squared with quick release. Also, no hesitation and huge confidence.”
3. Fournier Frenetically Defends DiVincenzo in 4th
Finally DiVincenzo missed a 3 near the end of the quarter. He entered the 4th quarter one 3 behind tying the Knick record — held jointly by Evan Fournier and JR Smith. Ironically, Fournier is on the Pistons now and he drew the assignment to guard DiVincenzo.
Fournier had just spent the last year in purgatory on the Knick bench, out of the rotation because his defense wasn’t good enough, before being traded to Detroit at this year’s trade deadline.
On this night Fournier played an in-your-face defense as best he could against DiVincenzo.
With all of MSG cheering for Fournier to take a shot every time he touched the ball, and Knick players feeding him, DiVincenzo missed his first two 3’s of the 4th quarter, and was pulled for rest with 9:19 left.
Thibs put DiVincenzo back in with 8:08 left for a final run at the record.
DiVincenzo missed his next 3 but finally hit one with 5:11 left to tie the record. He missed his next two 3’s but hit one again with 3:05 left for the record.
4. Villanova Sidekicks Brunson & Hart Great in Donte’s Shadow
Meanwhile, Jalen Brunson had a pedestrian 28 points on 10-20 shooting (4-7 from 3), and Josh Hart was everywhere on defense and offense, laying down his 6th triple double of the year with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists.
5. Precious Great; Bogey Daylight
Precious Achiuwa, coming off a game against Brooklyn where he only played 7 minutes due to matchups, played 26 minutes and was dynamite — 16 rebounds and 9 points on 3-5 shooting.
Bogdan Bogdanovic also was coming off a 7-minute outing against Brooklyn — and in this game he saw 18 minutes and scored 13 points on 5-11 shooting (2-7 from 3).
On this night it was Jericho Sims that got the 7 minutes (and he played well).
Thibs emptied the bench for the last 3 minutes: Shake Milton, 6’9 Mamadi Diakite, and DaQuan Jeffries saw action. Alec Burks was out as a late scratch due to “overall soreness”.
Wiseman had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Pistons, and guard Marcus Sasser had 24.
The Boxscore
https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401585663
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