Donte DiVincenzo started this season as a reserve.
He can finish it with the greatest 3-point shooting campaign in Knicks history.
After his dazzling performance in Saturday’s victory against the NetsDiVincenzo is just 18 treys away from tying the single-season mark of 241 set by Evan Fournier in 2022.
DiVincenzo told the Post that he plans to become the Knicks’ long-distance king — “Hell, yeah, obviously I want to be in the record books” — but that can’t be a priority.
“I do not think about it. Obviously I’m aware of that, but I don’t go into it thinking, “How much do I need?” “, DiVincenzo said. “It’s up to you to talk about it, it’s up to everyone else to have fun. But when you start doing that, there’s basketball karma, gods of basketball. It’s not something [I want to mess with].
“There is energy in basketball. So play the right way and good things will happen.
It’s been an improbable rise to DiVincenzo’s 223 3-pointers thus far.
He was signed this summer as the backup shooter behind Quentin Grimes, hitting just 47 treys in his first 22 games while averaging just 8.6 points.
But Grimes was frustrated and struggling with the starters, so DiVincenzo took the spot and soared behind supreme confidence and a license to shoot.
From December 30 – the day RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley were traded to Toronto — DiVincenzo averaged 3.94 treys per game and raised his season total to No. 1 in the Eastern Conference.
He is only overshadowed by his former teammate Steph Curry and Luka Doncic, both in the West.
If DiVincenzo plays the remaining 12 games, he only needs to average 1.5 3-pointers to set the record – a very achievable goal since he’s more than doubling that per game with a rate of 39.5%.
His 223 treys are already second on the all-time list, having recently passed Julius Randle’s 218 (made in 2023) and John Starks’ 217 (1995).
With the increase in 3-point shooting in the NBA, it’s not a sacred record but nonetheless impressive considering DiVincenzo, a six-year veteran, has never come close to this mark in previous campaigns.
He also pushed his scoring average to a career-high 14.5.
“It’s incredible to think [about the record]” DiVincenzo said. “When I signed here, I didn’t even know this record existed until someone mentioned it in January when I was doing seven or eight. [3-pointers] a night. And I was like, “That would be cool.” »
“But it was so long ago that I never really think about it. Honestly, it’s an honor and a testament to 1) who you play with; and 2) who you play for.
DiVincenzo, who signed a deal worth around $50 million over four yearsis a big supporter of Tom Thibodeau, who has given freedom to throw treys as long as the hard work gets done.
“It’s the basics: defense and rebounding. If you defend, rebound and do what he asks, then offensively, it’s a green light,” DiVincenzo said. “It’s freedom, within reason. There’s no situation where he’ll say, “Don’t shoot that shot.” He wants everyone to play with the utmost confidence as long as you play on the defensive end.
Still, DiVincenzo noticed how his increased production and usage led to an increase in attention received from opposing defenses.
That’s obvious without Randle and OG Anunoby in the lineup, and especially true when Jalen Brunson sits out like he did against the Mavericks on Feb. 8 — when DiVincenzo lost a career-high 36 points but the Knicks lost.
“They’re just trying to be physical and not let me touch the ball,” he said. “Last year I just got open 3s. Now they’re being challenged or coming off screens, it’s something I’ve gotten used to now.
There were harder shots but also more shots.
“I think it’s a question of who you play with. When you play with Klay [Thompson], you play with Steph, the offense runs through them,” said DiVincenzo, who played last season with the Warriors. “They take a lot of photos. Then I was also playing with Jordan Poole. So I got 150 [3-pointers] last year, but if you come this year, it’s a pass and anyone can shoot. There’s no focal point between two or three guys getting shot.
The result, for DiVincenzo, is probably a record.
Coincidentally, he’ll face the man he’s chasing on Monday – Fournier – who is now with the Pistons and has established an important role on the bench before the game at MSG.
Fournier understands that his brand will be overthrown.
“Donte is a hell of a shooter,” the Frenchman said last month, the last time he played at MSG. “I’m confident he’ll break it, that’s for sure.”
