NEW YORK — Donte DiVincenzo set a franchise record with 11 three-pointers and scored a career-high 40 points, leading the New York Knicks to a 124-99 rout of Detroit on Monday night for their 15th straight victory over the Pistons.
DiVincenzo broke the Knicks’ single-game record of 10, held by JR Smith and Evan Fournier, and moved into third in the NBA in 3-pointers made this season. He would have had one more, but one of his 3s in the third quarter was later nullified because he went out of bounds first.
But the swingman stayed in the blowout long enough to get the record breaker with 3:16 left, then bowed out shortly afterward to a standing ovation.
Jalen Brunson added 28 points and Josh Hart had 11 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists in his sixth triple-double this season. The Knicks win for the sixth time in seven games and remain half a game behind Cleveland for third place in the Eastern Conference.
Marcus Sasser scored 24 points for the NBA-worst Pistons, who lost their seventh straight game and fell to 12-60. They were without top player Cade Cunningham, as well as Jalen Duren, Ausar Thompson, Simone Fontecchio and Isaiah Stewart due to injuries.
It quickly became clear that this game would be nothing like Detroit’s visit last month, when the Knicks got Hart’s go-ahead win in their 113-111 victory with 2.8 seconds remaining, with the referees having later determined that a foul should have been called on DiVincenzo in a collision that allowed New York to regain possession.
This time, New York made eight of its first nine shots to take a 20-8 lead. It was 36-17 after one quarter, when the Knicks had six 3-pointers and the Pistons had only six baskets total.
From there, fans stayed interested as they cheered on DiVincenzo, who finished 11 of 20 from behind the arc.
DiVincenzo has had to expand his role in his first season with the Knicks after losing All-Star forward Julius Randle since late January. They also continue to play without fellow starters OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson.
DiVincenzo responded with 234 3-pointers and is closing in on the franchise record of 241 held by Fournier, who was in the arena after being traded to the Pistons in February. DiVincenzo passed former Golden State teammate Klay Thompson for third place this season and is behind Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic.
Knicks players warmed up wearing shirts with Hall of Famer Willis Reed’s No. 19 on the back the night they celebrated HBCU Night. Reed, who died last year at age 80, led Grambling State to the 1961 NAIA championship and a third-place finish in 1963.
FOLLOWING
Pistons: Visit Minnesota on Wednesday.
Knicks: Visit Toronto on Wednesday.
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