<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-julius-randle-defends-donte-divincenzo-knicks-altercation');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves’ Julius Randle defends Donte DiVincenzo after Knicks altercation');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Julius-Randle-defends-Donte-DiVincenzo-after-Knicks-altercation.jpg"></figure><h1>Timberwolves’ Julius Randle defends Donte DiVincenzo after Knicks altercation</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-16T09:03:51-07:00">October 16th, 9:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-16T09:03:51-07:00">October 16th, 9:03am</time><address><a href="https://www.downeuclid.com">Evan Dammarell</a>Evan Dammarell is an award-winning sports journalist covering all things Cleveland, including the Cavs, right off the shores of Lake Erie. Follow him on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves’ Julius Randle defends Donte DiVincenzo after Knicks altercation

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/villanova-basketball-news-donte-divincenzo-buddy-hield-impersonation-title');   ga('set', 'title', 'How Donte DiVincenzo’s Buddy Hield scout helped win a national title at Villanova');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Villanova-basketball-news-How-Donte-DiVincenzos-Buddy-Hield-impersonation-helped-win-a-national-title.jpg"></figure><h1>How Donte DiVincenzo’s Buddy Hield scout helped win a national title at Villanova</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T12:01:23-07:00">October 14th, 12:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T12:01:23-07:00">October 14th, 12:01pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NCAA Basketball</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Former Villanova basketball star Donte DiVincenzo has become one of the NBA’s top role players. He has been coveted my multiple teams in recent years, and was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-donte-divincenzo-flames-knicks-karl-anthony-towns-trade">included in the high-profile Karl-Anthony Towns trade</a> last month after a very good playoff run with the New York Knicks in 2024.</p><p>Before DiVincenzo became an everyday player in the pros, he was a star at Villanova, winning two National Championships with the Wildcats. He was the Most Outstanding Player of the 2018 Final Four, but he also played a huge role in the 2016 title despite not playing as much.</p><p>DiVincenzo’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5833703/2024/10/14/donte-divincenzo-knicks-timberwolves-nba-villanova/?source=emp_shared_article" rel="noopener">role as the scout team player</a> in charge of simulating Oklahoma’s Buddy Hield before the Wildcats and Sooners faced off in the Final Four has become legendary in Villanova hoops lore, according to James L. Edwards III of The Athletic.</p><p>“‘He was impersonating Buddy so well that we couldn’t guard this dude,’ Villanova assistant coach Ashley Howard said on the phone last month,” Edwards wrote on Monday. “Bucket after bucket rained down on the heads of DiVincenzo’s teammates, a handful of who would go on to play in the NBA, including Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Describing DiVincenzo as unguardable would be disrespectful to what he was actually doing. DiVincenzo deflated his own team’s confidence.</p><p>‘If we can’t guard Donte, we’re not going to be able to guard Buddy Hield,’ Howard recalls saying to other coaches. ‘I know Donte is really good, but he just destroyed us in practice. I didn’t know if we were ready for Oklahoma.'”</p><p>In the Final Four matchup, Hield scored just nine points and Villanova blasted Oklahoma by 44. He was named the Player of the Year in college basketball the next day. Villanova would go on to win the title on Kris Jenkins’ epic buzzer-beater a few nights later against North Carolina.</p><h2><b>Villanova basketball gets no votes in preseason AP poll</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Kyle-Neptune.jpg"><figcaption>Eric Canha-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Villanova basketball has struggled to keep their rich tradition going after the retirement of Jay Wright. They have failed to reach the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/wildcats-ad-gets-brutally-honest-on-kyle-neptunes-future-after-nit-loss">under new head coach Kyle Neptune</a>, and the preseason polls aren’t being very kind to them in 2024-25 either.</p><p>The preseason AP top 25 poll was released on Monday. Not only was Villanova not included in the rankings, but they didn’t even receive a single top 25 vote.</p><p>The Wildcats still have some talent, with longtime veteran forward Eric Dixon manning the middle and Miami transfer Wooga Poplar on the wing. If those two stars can carry a lot of the load for the supporting cast around them, Neptune still has the type of team that can make a run to the Big Dance in March.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

How Donte DiVincenzo’s Buddy Hield scout helped win a national title at Villanova

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-anthony-edwards-drops-f-bomb-about-donte-divincenzo');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards drops F-bomb about Donte DiVincenzo');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Anthony-Edwards-drops-F-bomb-about-Donte-DiVincenzo.jpg"></figure><h1>Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards drops F-bomb about Donte DiVincenzo</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T11:44:05-07:00">October 14th, 11:44am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T11:44:05-07:00">October 14th, 11:44am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Donte DiVincenzo showed why the Minnesota Timberwolves wanted him so badly in the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks during Sunday’s preseason game between the two teams, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-psycho-defense-jalen-brunson-viral">and Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards</a> <a href="https://x.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1845645698986860923" rel="noopener">loves the early returns</a> on the trade as he gets acclimated to playing with DiVincenzo.</p><p>“F***in’ incredible. I don’t need the ball,” Anthony Edwards said, via Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. “You see it. I’m having fun, man. It’s fun to play with Donte.”</p><p>In 27 minutes, DiVincenzo put up 15 points, making two three-point shots and shooting 6-for-11 overall during the game, at some points jawing with his former teammates and coaching staff on the Knicks during and after the contest. Anthony Edwards did what we are accustomed to seeing him do, as he put up 31 in the game. The Knicks won the game 115-110, but the starting players who played <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-nsfw-trash-talk-mikal-bridges">for the Timberwolves</a> performed well for the most part. DiVincenzo seems like a seamless fit with Edwards in that offense, and his shooting should take pressure off of the superstar.</p><p>Due to the financial situation, the Timberwolves were in and the state of the ownership group, many knew that it was a matter of time until the franchise offloaded one of the big contracts. Towns was the obvious move, and the Knicks, who needed a center, were the obvious fit. In addition to DiVincenzo, the Timberwolves got Julius Randle on what is potentially an expiring deal due to a player option he will likely decline, and a protected first-round pick form the Detroit Pistons. Towns was a staple of the organization, but the Timberwolves hope that this trade balances out the roster more.</p><h2><b>Timberwolves wrapping up preseason before big tests early on in regular season</b></h2><p>The Timberwolves have two more games in the preseason coming this week, one against the Chicago Bulls on the road on Wednesday, followed by a home game against the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. Julius Randle will be able to get on the court on Wednesday against the Bulls. That will be his first game back from the shoulder injury he suffered last season.</p><p>It will be interesting to see how Randle and DiVincenzo mesh with Edwards and players like Rudy Gobert this season. The Timberwolves will be tested early on, with the season opener on Nov. 22 against the Los Angeles Lakers on the road, followed by another road game on Thursday, Nov. 24 against the Sacramento Kings.</p><p>Regardless, it appears Edwards is high on what he and DiVincenzo could do on the court together.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards drops F-bomb about Donte DiVincenzo

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-donte-divincenzo-clarifies-tom-thibodeau-trash-talk');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo clarifies Tom Thibodeau trash talk');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Donte-DiVincenzo-clarifies-Tom-Thibodeau-trash-talk.jpg"></figure><h1>Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo clarifies Tom Thibodeau trash talk</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T07:02:37-07:00">October 14th, 7:02am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T15:25:03-07:00">October 14th, 3:25pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When a player is traded from a team less than a month before the new season starts and then faces that team just two weeks later, the wounds are bound to still be somewhat raw.</p><p>During Sunday’s NBA preseason game, speculation ran rampant that Donte DiVincenzo called out New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau regarding <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-karl-anthony-towns-julius-randle-knicks-timberwolves-trade">the big trade</a> that shipped him, Julius Randle and draft picks to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns.</p><p>The seventh-year guard made a basket midway through the first quarter while also drawing a foul. As DiVincenzo prepared to complete the three-point play, he looked towards his former coach and said what many believed to be “thanks for the trade.”</p><p>He then also exchanged words with Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson, father of All-Star Jalen Brunson, which later led to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/donte-divincenzo-jalen-brunson-address-heated-rick-brunson-exchange">a tense postgame interaction</a> (Jalen and others had to get in between the two men).</p><p>DiVincenzo did not specifically share details on the Brunson situation, but he did <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1845646712494289385" rel="noopener">outright deny the social media theories</a>.</p><p>“I didn’t say thanks for the trade,” he told the media after the Timberwolves’ 115-110 loss to the Knicks, via SiriusXM NBA’s Rob Perez; “I was joking to Thibs about not being able to finish and giving him a hard time… I didn’t say anything about the trade.”</p><p><a href="https://x.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1845632215431925890" rel="noopener">Video clips with enhanced audio</a>, via New York Basketball, back up DiVincenzo’s claim. The former first-round pick says, “can’t finish right, Thibs?” He does not appear to be smiling, however, and the content of what is actually said does not exactly convey a “let’s grab drinks after this” kind of vibe, but there is no mention of the blockbuster deal.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Here it is, clear as day.</p><p>Donte DiVincenzo's explanation after the game, and the correct captioning of his interaction with the Knicks bench. <a href="https://t.co/qPiZWiNDJa">pic.twitter.com/qPiZWiNDJa</a></p><p>— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldWideWob/status/1845646712494289385?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Above the rim Donte talking to Knicks bench – regular then voice enhanced <a href="https://t.co/cfZDlRofj9">pic.twitter.com/cfZDlRofj9</a></p><p>— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBA_NewYork/status/1845632215431925890?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Timberwolves, Knicks look ahead to NBA season opener</b></h2><p>Regardless, Rick Brunson clearly took offense to DiVincenzo’s trash talk and directed something back towards the free-throw line, prompting the 2021 NBA champion and two-time national champion to utter, “that’s what happens when you run the show.”</p><p>So even if Donte DiVincenzo did not reference the trade, there seems to be some animosity that exists between him and at least one member of the Knicks. He expressed the desire to clear the air with Rick Brunson in private and reiterated his close bond with Jalen Brunson.</p><p>No matter what is said behind closed doors, all eyes will be on the former Villanova star when he faces off against New York for the first time in the 2024-25 regular season this December.</p><p>Make no mistake, though, both parties have their own goals that transcend this breakup. The Knicks and Timberwolves each begin what they hope is an incredibly promising campaign on Oct. 22.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves’ Donte DiVincenzo clarifies Tom Thibodeau trash talk

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/donte-divincenzo-jalen-brunson-address-heated-rick-brunson-exchange');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson address heated Rick Brunson exchange');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Donte-DiVincenzo-Jalen-Brunson-address-heated-Rick-Brunson-exchange.jpg"></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson address heated Rick Brunson exchange</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-14T06:32:27-07:00">October 14th, 6:32am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T15:14:30-07:00">October 14th, 3:14pm</time><address><a>Derek Hryn</a>Derek Hryn is an Associate Editor at ClutchPoints specializing in NFL and NCAA Football coverage. Derek was previously a fantasy football expert at DK and SB Nation, and he has been featured at FanSided, USA Today, NBC Sports, The New York Post, and others.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Two former teammates had an awkward run-in following the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-donte-divincenzo-flames-knicks-karl-anthony-towns-trade">preseason game between the New York Knicks</a> and Minnesota Timberwolves. Donte DiVincenzo and Jalen Brunson’s father Rick Brunson had to be separated after the Knicks defeated the Timberwolves 115-110 on Sunday night.</p><p>DiVincenzo, who was recently traded by the Knicks to the Timberwolves, <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/10/13/sports/donte-divincenzo-appears-to-chirp-at-knicks-tom-thibodeau-in-msg-return/?utm_campaign=iphone_nyp&amp;utm_source=twitter&amp;utm_medium=social" rel="noopener">had a heated exchange</a> with Brunson’s father, who walked up to him when players were shaking hands (via New York Post Sports on X, formerly Twitter). It wasn’t long before players on both teams got involved in the discussion.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Donte DiVincenzo &amp; Rick Brunson got into a heated exchange after the game 👀<a href="https://t.co/cGaIt2HFWJ">pic.twitter.com/cGaIt2HFWJ</a></p><p>— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) <a href="https://twitter.com/nypostsports/status/1845625764760170957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>DiVincenzo responded to reporters in the locker room after players left the court.</p><p>“Some words. I don’t know fully well what was said,” DiVincenzo said after facing the Knicks for the first time since they traded him last month. “A lot of people there. But I really have no comment on the situation. I think we’ll both be men and talk about it privately.”</p><p>Jalen Brunson was doing his best with lightening the occurrence, but the whole incident appeared to be as DiVincenzo said.</p><p>“My relationship with Jalen — that’s my brother, my best friend,” DiVincenzo said. “That’s a separate relationship. I said I’ll talk about that privately and figure that out.”</p><p>There were times during Sunday’s game where DiVincenzo was seen chirping at the Knicks bench, but it appears as if it was all just words in the heat of the battle.</p><h2><b>Jalen Brunson weighs in about incident between Donte DiVincenzo and Rick Brunson</b></h2><p>Brunson, who led the Knicks in scoring with 24 points on Sunday, had a chance to address whatever was going on between his good friend and father. The All-Star point guard put it simple.</p><p>“Two people talking,” he said. “Words of affirmation.”</p><p>It’s still uncertain what exactly the issue was between DiVincenzo and Brunson, but it’s likely that whatever gripe they have with each other is yet to be fully settled.</p><p>The former Villanova teammates got their first opportunity to play against each other in a long time. DiVincenzo signed with the Knicks in July 2023 with <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-josh-hart-details-tough-mindset-donte-divincenzo-departure">other college teammate Josh Hart</a> being traded there in February 2023.</p><p>Sadly, the Knicks won’t fully have all of their star pieces from the 2017-18 national champion roster, but they will certainly be close by adding Mikal Bridges in the offseason. It will be interesting to see how DiVincenzo and Brunson interact when they see each other again in their regular-season clash on December 19.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo, Jalen Brunson address heated Rick Brunson exchange

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/timberwolves-news-donte-divincenzo-flames-knicks-karl-anthony-towns-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo flames Knicks in first meeting since Karl-Anthony Towns trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Donte-DiVincenzo-flames-Knicks-in-first-meeting-since-Karl-Anthony-Towns-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo flames Knicks in first meeting since Karl-Anthony Towns trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-13T17:45:42-07:00">October 13th, 5:45pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-14T14:56:41-07:00">October 14th, 2:56pm</time><address><a>Matt De Lima</a>Matt De Lima is an Associate Editor for NFL and college football at ClutchPoints. He has been covering sports for over 12 years at sites like Sports Illustrated, The Game Day, and countless others. Born and raised in California, he is a graduate of Virginia Tech and a diehard Hokies fan who now resides in southern Maryland.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-news-julius-randle-inching-closer-debut-after-karl-anthony-towns-trade">first game back to Madison Square Garden</a>, Minnesota Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo didn’t waste any time mouthing off to his old team, the New York Knicks. While at the free-throw line minutes into the preseason game, DiVincenzo said thanks for trading him and gave someone, perhaps Rick Brunson or Tom Thibodeau, <a href="https://x.com/clutchpoints/status/1845597894969278593" rel="noopener">another message</a>.</p><p>“That’s what happens when they let you run the show!”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"That’s what happens when they let you run the show."</p><p>Donte DiVincenzo to the Knicks bench 😳<a href="https://t.co/9HPAf7lRPM">pic.twitter.com/9HPAf7lRPM</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1845597894969278593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 13, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Just over a week ago, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-donte-divincenzo-farewell-to-ny-after-timberwolves-trade">DiVincenzo penned an emotional farewell</a> to the Knicks, perhaps more to the fans than the organization, given his outburst.</p><p>“Thank you fans! Thank you for one of the best years of my life. The energy, the love, the tenacity, and the fun we had,” DiVincenzo said. “It was just one season, but one for the record books. Thanks for briefly letting me into your storied legacy and in your legendary family. Until next time…”</p><p>And after the game, it appears teammates had to get between and separate Rick Brunson and DiVincenzo.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Wow… assumed they just ribbing each and joking around, but it looks like some players/coaches had to get between Rick Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo after they exchanged words <a href="https://t.co/mQPGTu8HBO">pic.twitter.com/mQPGTu8HBO</a></p><p>— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) <a href="https://twitter.com/TommyBeer/status/1845625790332899403?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Knicks won the preseason matchup, 115-110.</p><h2><b>A new rivalry is taking shape between Knicks and Timberwolves</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Timberwolves-Donte-DiVincenzo-defending-against-Knicks-Jalen.jpg"><figcaption>© Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Can two teams that only play twice yearly end up in a rivalry? There aren’t many that span conferences.</p><p>Two weeks ago, the New York Knicks sent DiVincenzo and Julius Randle to the Timberwolves in exchange for Karl-Anthony Towns. This quickly ended what was already known as the “<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-timberwolves-trade-ends-villanova-knicks-run">Nova Knicks</a>.”</p><p>Considering how far ahead the Boston Celtics were last year in the Eastern Conference, it makes sense that the Knicks felt like they had to make a big move. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves have more leeway given that the West is more wide open. Between the Oklahoma City Thunder, Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets and T-Wolves, the conference could move in any team’s favor.</p><p>DiVincenzo gives the Timberwolves an elite off-the-bench scorer. Last season, he set personal bests averaging 15.5 points per game and looked like a difference-maker during the postseason.</p><p>What makes the Timberwolves special? ClutchPoints’ Brett Siegel spelled it out clearly in his <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-power-rankings-2024-25-thunder-challenge-celtics">latest NBA Power Rankings</a> where he has Minnesota at No. 8.</p><p>“Anthony Edwards. That is all you need to know about the Minnesota Timberwolves entering the new season, because when there is a will and a way, Edwards is going to step up. The young star did so when he took the Timberwolves to the Western Conference Finals last season, and he stepped up at numerous points for Team USA in the Olympics this summer.</p><p>“At 23 years old, it is not hard to call Edwards a top-10 player in the league right now simply because he has the same killer mentality that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had where they wouldn’t let anyone dictate their play.”</p><p>Minnesota’s regular season begins on the road against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, October 22, at 10:00 p.m. EST.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo flames Knicks in first meeting since Karl-Anthony Towns trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-josh-hart-details-tough-mindset-donte-divincenzo-departure');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks’ Josh Hart details ‘tough’ mindset behind Donte DiVincenzo departure');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/0-Josh-Hart-details-tough-mindset-behind-Donte-DiVincenzo-departure-0.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks’ Josh Hart details ‘tough’ mindset behind Donte DiVincenzo departure</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-11T12:56:25-07:00">October 11th, 12:56pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-11T16:17:58-07:00">October 11th, 4:17pm</time><address><a>Josue Pavon</a>Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. He started his career as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com in Boston, where he grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media. Alongside the Celtics radio broadcaster and two-time NBA champion Cedric Maxwell, Josue is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks pulled the trigger on arguably the most significant offseason blockbuster trade, sending forward <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba-news-karl-anthony-towns-julius-randle-trade-between-timberwolves-knicks-sends-shockwaves">Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Karl-Anthony Towns</a>. The move sent shockwaves across the league as the Knicks and Timberwolves are adapting to their respective new big man amidst the NBA preseason, including former teammate Josh Hart. Donte DiVincenzo, Hart’s longtime friend and former Villanova teammate in college, was part of the three-team swap from the Knicks.</p><p>When the Brooklyn Nets traded Mikal Bridges to the Knicks last season, it thrilled Villanova basketball fans to see members of the 2018 NCAA Men’s basketball champion Villanova Wildcats’ Jalen Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo, and Bridges all on one team. By the end of the season, they were appropriately dubbed the “Nova Knicks.”</p><p>Recently, Hart discussed <a href="https://x.com/JLEdwardsIII/status/1844794209720525021" rel="noopener">the day he found out</a> DiVincenzo was heading to Minnesota as part of the three-team blockbuster swap, per The Athletic’s James L. Edwards III.</p><p>“It’s a tough one. It’s part of the business. I get it. But I miss my dog,” Hart said. “I think he should be received with cheers and ovation for everything he did last year.”</p><p>DiVincenzo averaged a career-best 15.5 points and shot at a 40.1% clip from deep, which marked the first time he’s connected on 40% of his three-point attempts in one season, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in his lone season with the Knicks. He’ll return to Madison Square Garden for the first time on Sunday.</p><h2><b>Knicks’ latest Mitchell Robinson injury update</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Knicks-center-Karl-Anthony-Towns-1.jpg"><figcaption>Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>Starting center <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-stephen-a-smith-disbelief-latest-mitchell-robinson-injury-update">Mitchell Robinson is expected to miss the rest of 2024</a>, rehabbing from two ankle procedures that ended his season 2023-24. Josh Hart watched the Knicks trade Donte DiVincenzo and a future first-round pick, which were ultimately forced into New York’s trade offer after the Minnesota Timberwolves declined a package centered around Randle and starting center Mitchell Robinson <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake/status/1844399804937281944" rel="noopener">in June</a>, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.</p><p>“The Knicks, they needed a five, and a lot of that is because Mitchell Robinson, Stephen, I don’t want to break your heart so early, but I’m told he will be out through the remainder of this calendar year 2024,” Charania said. “He will wait for his season debut in January.</p><p>“It might be bad news on the front end, but he is aiming to make his return. He had two ankle surgeries last season, and it is imperative for the Knicks for Mitchell Robinson for him to come back in peak form and really take his time from these injuries. And they’re hopeful he’s going to come back. Tom Thibodeau loves Mitchell Robinson defensively.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">.<a href="https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ShamsCharania</a> revealed that Mitchell Robinson will miss the remainder of the calendar year while recovering from foot surgery.<a href="https://twitter.com/stephenasmith?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@stephenasmith</a> couldn't believe it 😭 <a href="https://t.co/Mvy7ZpG7hf">pic.twitter.com/Mvy7ZpG7hf</a></p><p>— First Take (@FirstTake) <a href="https://twitter.com/FirstTake/status/1844399804937281944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 10, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>After a 2-0 start to their preseason slate, DiVincenzo and the Knicks will host Randle and the Timberwolves at Madison Square Garden this Sunday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks’ Josh Hart details ‘tough’ mindset behind Donte DiVincenzo departure

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-donte-divincenzo-farewell-to-ny-after-timberwolves-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo pens emotional farewell to Knicks after Timberwolves trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Donte-DiVincenzo-pens-emotional-farewell-to-NY-after-Timberwolves-trade.jpg"><figcaption>ClutchPoints</figcaption></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo pens emotional farewell to Knicks after Timberwolves trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-10-03T11:53:48-07:00">October 3rd, 11:53am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-10-03T11:53:48-07:00">October 3rd, 11:53am</time><address><a>Julian Ojeda</a>Julian Ojeda is an Orlando-based sports journalist with 3 years of professional writing under his belt, specializing in both NBA and NFL coverage. A devoted Orlando Magic fan, he deftly balances fervent fandom with insightful reporting, possessing a keen eye for compelling narratives.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Donte DiVincenzo <a href="https://x.com/IanBegley/status/1841866756333134013" rel="noopener">penned an emotional farewell</a> to the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-breaks-silence-julius-randle-donte-divincenzo-trade">New York Knicks after being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves</a> as part of a monumental deal that brought Karl-Anthony Towns to New York. DiVincenzo, who spent just one season with the Knicks, expressed his gratitude to the fans in a heartfelt message on Thursday.</p><p>“Thank you fans! Thank you for one of the best years of my life. The energy, the love, the tenacity, and the fun we had,” DiVincenzo said. “It was just one season, but one for the record books. Thanks for briefly letting me into your storied legacy and in your legendary family. Until next time…”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Donte DiVincenzo with a message of thanks to Knicks fans, via his agency: “Thank you for one of the best years of my life….It was just one season, but one for the record books.” DiVincenzo’s full statement here: <a href="https://t.co/tLtlyVJecS">pic.twitter.com/tLtlyVJecS</a></p><p>— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) <a href="https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/1841866756333134013?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 3, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://instagram.com/embed.js"></script></p></figure><p>DiVincenzo’s departure marks the end of a short yet impactful tenure with the Knicks, who now focus on their championship aspirations with Towns as their new centerpiece. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-leon-rose-labels-karl-anthony-towns-unique-first-comments-since-trade">Acquiring Towns signals a significant step forward for New York</a>, but it came at a cost, with DiVincenzo and All-Star forward Julius Randle heading to Minnesota. The duo was instrumental in leading the Knicks to a 50-win season and a second seed in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.</p><h2><b>Donte DiVincenzo bids emotional farewell to Knicks following Timberwolves trade</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Donte-DiVincenzo-0-leaves-the-court-after-losing-game-seven-of-the-second-round.jpg"><figcaption>© Brad Penner-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>At 27, DiVincenzo enjoyed a career-best season in 2023-24, setting personal highs with 15.5 points per game and an impressive 40.1% from three-point range. Signed initially as a reserve, DiVincenzo quickly earned a starting role by December, contributing 17.7 points per game over the final 61 games. He set a franchise record for most three-pointers in a single season with 283, becoming a fan favorite in New York for his sharpshooting and defensive versatility.</p><p>The trade to Minnesota places DiVincenzo on a Timberwolves team undergoing its own transformation. Alongside Randle, the Timberwolves boast a roster featuring rising star Anthony Edwards, veteran Rudy Gobert, point guard Mike Conley, forward Jaden McDaniels, and rookie Rob Dillingham. DiVincenzo’s shooting and two-way abilities should make him a key piece in the Timberwolves’ rotation as they aim to build on recent playoff success.</p><p>DiVincenzo’s arrival in New York had briefly reunited him with former <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/villanova-basketball-news-wildcats-have-perfect-4-word-reaction-to-mikal-bridges-trade">Villanova teammates Jalen Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges</a>, creating excitement among Knicks fans. However, with Bridges traded earlier and now DiVincenzo’s departure, that Villanova reunion has come to an end.</p><p>Though his time with the Knicks was brief, Donte DiVincenzo leaves a lasting legacy, both statistically and emotionally, as the team shifts its focus toward the future.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo pens emotional farewell to Knicks after Timberwolves trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-breaks-silence-julius-randle-donte-divincenzo-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks’ Jalen Brunson breaks silence on Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo departure via trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Knicks-news-Jalen-Brunson-breaks-silence-on-Julius-Randle-Donte-DiVincenzo-departure-via-trade.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks’ Jalen Brunson breaks silence on Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo departure via trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-30T08:55:46-07:00">September 30th, 8:55am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-30T15:22:48-07:00">September 30th, 3:22pm</time><address><a>Brett Siegel</a>Brett Siegel joined ClutchPoints as a credentialed NBA insider and reporter in May 2023 after previously covering the NBA for Fastbreak on FanNation and NBA Analysis Network, as well as working with Louisville Basketball. From playing to coaching to covering the game as a media member, Brett has been involved with the game of basketball from many different perspectives. Breaking the news of various free agent signings, yearly NBA Draft news and other key stories around the league, Brett is always on the phone, getting the latest news and rumors around the NBA. Be sure to follow him on Twitter @BrettSiegelNBA.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Right before the start of training camp, the New York Knicks have made headlines across the NBA with their groundbreaking and blockbuster trade to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">acquire four-time All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns</a> from the Minnesota Timberwolves.</p><p>The former No. 1 overall pick now joins a Knicks roster that is primed for a deep playoff run, yet this deal forced New York to surrender Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo, two of their key contributors next to MVP candidate Jalen Brunson.</p><p>At media day on Monday, many players were questioned about the trade involving Towns, which they are not allowed to speak about yet since the deal is not official. But reporters asked Brunson a different question about Randle and DiVincenzo, two of his close teammates that will now be heading to Minnesota.</p><p>While he did not get into specifics about the addition of Towns, Brunson <a href="https://x.com/IanBegley/status/1840766034829004924" rel="noopener">reflected on what his two teammates</a> meant to him.</p><p>“It was definitely tough,” Brunson said of Randle and DiVincenzo being traded, according to SNY’s Ian Begley. “Thankful that Julius welcomed me with open arms here…that news was crazy.”</p><p>Randle joined the Knicks ahead of the 2019-20 season and was the undisputed leader of the team prior to Brunson’s arrival before the 2022-23 season. While the Knicks have become Brunson’s team, Randle was still an All-Star in his own right that helped the team’s new point guard get acclimated to Tom Thibodeau’s system in New York.</p><p>As for Brunson and his relationship with DiVincenzo, the former collegiate teammates will always share a special bond.</p><p>“Donte, he was a groomsman at my wedding,” Brunson continued. “That should tell you everything about our relationship. Love him to death.”</p><p>One of the biggest surprises to this Knicks-Timberwolves trade is that DiVincenzo was involved. After a career season with the Knicks, DiVincenzo found himself as one of four former Villanova players on his team’s roster next to Brunson, Josh Hart, and Mikal Bridges.</p><p>Unfortunately, the sharpshooting wing found himself as the odd man out in this scenario to acquire Towns due to the Timberwolves’ interest in him.</p><p>In a total of 81 games with the Knicks last season, DiVincenzo averaged 15.5 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 40.1 percent from three-point range.</p><p>While Brunson is obviously sad to see two of his close teammates leave the organization, Towns is going to help make him an even more dangerous player. Towns has the ability to spread the floor and knock down three-point shots, which will open up the court tremendously for Brunson without the paint being clogged.</p><p>The Knicks have lost a chunk of depth by dealing away Randle and DiVincenzo, but what they have gained with Towns may be enough for them to finally go head-to-head with the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks’ Jalen Brunson breaks silence on Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo departure via trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba-rumors-timberwolves-reason-for-acquiring-julius-randle-donte-divincenzo-in-blockbuster-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/NBA-news-Karl-Anthony-Towns-Julius-Randle-trade-between-Timberwolves-Knicks-sends-shockwaves.jpg"></figure><h1>NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-09-27T22:30:25-07:00">September 27th, 10:30pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-09-27T22:30:25-07:00">September 27th, 10:30pm</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After nine seasons with the team, the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/timberwolves-finalizing-shocking-karl-anthony-towns-trade-with-knicks">Minnesota Timberwolves finally decided to trade away</a> Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, and a heavily-protected first-round pick from the Detroit Pistons. This move is bittersweet in many ways; Towns was the face of the franchise for nearly a decade, and the team has been through plenty of ups and downs with him at the center of it all. And just like that, his stint with the franchise is over.</p><p>There is no question that Randle and DiVincenzo, in a vacuum, are downgrades from Towns in terms of individual player caliber. Towns is one of the greatest big-man shooters the league has ever seen, and the Timberwolves have managed to make a partnership between him and Rudy Gobert work — nearly resulting in a trip to the NBA Finals in the process.</p><p>But it’s clear why the Timberwolves felt as though they needed to make this trade; per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic, Minnesota saw the Towns trade as an <a href="https://x.com/JonKrawczynski/status/1839863534932394224" rel="noopener">opportunity to add depth</a> and lengthen their “window of competitiveness” in the process. They are confident that they can “lean on” Anthony Edwards, Naz Reid, and Jaden McDaniels to lead the team moving forward, while adding two quality pieces in Randle and DiVincenzo.</p><p>In particular, DiVincenzo <a href="https://x.com/TimBontemps/status/1839863918967304677" rel="noopener">has long been a target</a> for the Timberwolves, as per Tim Bontemps of ESPN. They reportedly had interest in signing DiVincenzo last year in free agency, but were eventually priced out. Now, they view his three-point shooting as an indispensable addition to the roster especially after losing one of the best shooters in the league in Towns.</p><p>However, the Timberwolves fanbase is rife with cynicism. They believe that this trade is nothing more than a cost-cutting maneuver, and perhaps there is strong merit to this belief.</p><h2><b>Did the Timberwolves trade Karl-Anthony Towns just to save a few bucks?</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Karl-Anthony-Towns_29a8ac.jpg"></figure><p>There should be no question that this is a financially-motivated move for the Timberwolves. Karl-Anthony Towns’ four-year, $224 million extension is set to kick in this upcoming season, and it would have been difficult for Minnesota to hang on to its core moving forward due to the punitive restrictions imposed upon teams over the second luxury tax apron under the new CBA.</p><p>Fans are enraged, and perhaps rightfully so. But this is merely a consequence of the new rules in place that would have necessitated a trade down the line anyway. (Rudy Gobert will be due for a new contract soon, and given how much the team gave up for him, it’s likely that they keep him for the long haul.) This is just the Timberwolves’ way of ripping the band-aid off.</p><p>But given this <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/grading-karl-anthony-towns-julius-randle-knicks-timberwolves-trade">impending financial crunch</a>, the Timberwolves did as well as they could. Randle and DiVincenzo are making less money combined than Towns does; the latter’s contract might be the biggest bargain in the association (he’ll be making an average of $11.9 million for the next three years — a pittance for one of the best three-point shooters in today’s NBA).</p><p>Randle does not come close to being the floor-spacer Towns is, that’s for sure. But he can create shots for himself and make plays for others as well. As a stop-gap option, Randle isn’t too bad, as long as he recovers fully from the shoulder injury that ended his 2023-24 season prematurely.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

NBA rumors: Timberwolves’ reason for acquiring Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo in blockbuster trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-donte-divincenzo-pacers-myles-turner-fake-tough-guy-label-game-5');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo hits Pacers’ Myles Turner with fake tough guy label after Game 5');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Donte-DiVincenzo-hits-Pacers-Myles-Turner-with-fake-tough-guy-label-after-Game-5.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo hits Pacers’ Myles Turner with fake tough guy label after Game 5</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-14T23:47:48-07:00">May 14th, 11:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-15T00:04:01-07:00">May 15th, 12:04am</time><address><a>Brian Buyawe</a>Brian Buyawe is a sports aficionado with a passion for basketball, football, and Formula One. His hobbies include running, reading and playing in recreational leagues. Back when he was a kid, Brian stumbled upon an old Larry Bird documentary among his family's collection of movies, which made him a lifelong Celtics fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Game 5 was eventful. During the New York Knicks’ Tuesday win over the Indiana Pacers, a lot happened. From scuffles, to an anklebreaker, to Precious Achiuwa playing without a shoe, Madison Square Garden fans were entertained to say the least. Speaking of the scuffles, one of them involved Donte DiVincenzo and Myles Turner. Both got tangled up on a screen by Turner, which <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1790561367302312218" rel="noopener">resulted in exchanged words</a> and multiple players getting in to break up the altercation.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Myles Turner and Donte DiVincenzo had to be separated after getting into an altercation 👀🍿 </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/WA1aqMrMIv">pic.twitter.com/WA1aqMrMIv</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1790561367302312218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Following the game, DiVincenzo <a href="https://twitter.com/SbondyNBA/status/1790584416617590939" rel="noopener">called out the</a> Pacers big man and his team.</p><p>“They’re trying to be tough guys,” DiVincenzo said, per the New York Post’s Stefan Bondy. “And that’s not their identity…Nobody is going to fight in the NBA. Take the foul and keep it moving. You’re not a tough guy.”</p><h2><b>It was a heated clash</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Myles-Turner-argues-with-Donte-DiVincenzo.jpg"><figcaption>© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>That’s one way to add more fuel to the fire. The entire series has been a slugfest, with plenty of physical play and trash talk from both sides. Besides Donte DiVincenzo and Myles Turner, Game 5 also featured an altercation between New York center Isaiah Hartenstein and Pacers forward Isaiah Jackson. Following a hard screen by Jackson on DiVincenzo, Hartenstein made it known that he didn’t appreciate the act, confronting Jackson face-to-face. Alec Burks joined in on the action, pushing Jackson away by the neck. All three were assessed with technical fouls.</p><p>Additionally, DiVincenzo was already jawing at TJ McConnell during the first quarter. It seemed like the history of those Knicks-Pacers matchups in the 90s still lives on today, and it makes for top-tier entertainment. While some might disapprove of watching many heated moments take place, it’s bound to happen. After all, there’s a reason why they call it playoff basketball. With how intense the clashes become, emotions will surely run high.</p><h2><b>The Knicks take control of the series once again</b></h2><p>The Knicks are currently up 3-2, with the series shifting back in their favor. The team took the first two games at home, but the Pacers also protected their homecourt, tying the series with victories in Games 3 and 4. The Knicks experienced a blowout days ago, which was why they returned the favor on Tuesday.</p><p>Jalen Brunson scored 44 points <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-tom-thibodeau-shouts-out-secret-weapon-pacers-game-5">while Alec Burks</a> and Josh Hart added 18 points each as New York broke away in the second quarter and led the entire way. As the final buzzer sounded, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-new-york-fans-troll-pacers-with-disrespectful-chant-after-game-5-win">the Knicks took home</a> a 30-point victory, 121-91.</p><p>One stat that stood out between both teams was rebounding. New York did what they do best: control the boards. The Knicks outrebounded the Pacers, 53-29. Additionally, New York hauled down 20 offensive boards, 12 of which came from Hartenstein. The center had 17 rebounds in total while Josh Hart followed with 11.</p><p>Being a win away from the Eastern Conference finals, the Knicks prepare for Game 6, which commences on Thursday.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo hits Pacers’ Myles Turner with fake tough guy label after Game 5

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-donte-divincenzo-myles-turner-heated-game-5-altercation-fans-bonkers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo, Myles Turner heated Game 5 altercation has fans going bonkers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/ASAP-Knicks-news-Donte-DiVincenzo-Myles-Turner-heated-Game-5-altercation-has-fans-going-bonkers-REAX-can-be-350-words.jpg"></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo, Myles Turner heated Game 5 altercation has fans going bonkers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-14T19:54:16-07:00">May 14th, 7:54pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-14T19:54:16-07:00">May 14th, 7:54pm</time><address><a>Scotty White</a>Scotty White is a graduate of the University of Michigan and has been in the sports journalism industry since 2020. He has covered athletics at the University of Michigan and the University of Southern California and is now serving as an Associate Editor and Chicago Bulls beat writer at ClutchPoints.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks and the Indiana Pacers played game five of their series on Tuesday night and the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-is-og-anunoby-playing-vs-pacers-latest-game-5-injury-update">Knicks ended up winning</a> the game pretty easily. After going up 2-0 in the series, New York let the Pacers get right back in it as they won both of their home games to even up the series. That set up a big game five back in New York, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/pacers-news-tyrese-haliburton-injury-update-for-pivotal-game-5-vs-knicks">and the Knicks needed</a> to get momentum back on their side. They did just that with the big win, and things got chippy in the contest as Donte DiVincenzo and Myles Turner got into an altercation.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Myles Turner and Donte DiVincenzo had to be separated after getting into an altercation 👀🍿 </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/WA1aqMrMIv">pic.twitter.com/WA1aqMrMIv</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1790561367302312218?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Tempers can flare during these big playoff games, and this is a perfect example of that. This was a big game as the Knicks now need to win just one more game to advance. Things <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1790561367302312218" rel="noopener">ended up getting chippy</a>, but as you can see by the score when it happened, the game was already in New York’s control.</p><p>Donte DiVincenzo has been huge in this series for the Knicks, and he wasn’t afraid of a little confrontation with Myles Turner. DiVincenzo wasn’t backing down, and Knicks fans have loved the way that he has played far in this series.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">DiVincenzo energy is elite</p><p>— BK (@DJBK) <a href="https://twitter.com/DJBK/status/1790561739248898354?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>It was a frustrating night for the Pacers as they ended up losing the game in blowout fashion. Perhaps the score contributed to Turner’s anger.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Turner just mad his team is losing by 200 🤣</p><p>— SpoMuse (@spomuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/spomuse/status/1790561624924749901?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Myles Turner did get a technical after the altercation was reviewed, and some people were surprised by that ruling.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">They fr gave turner a tech for standing then responding when someone pushes him the gets in his face?????</p><p>— pl (@ColtFergus83460) <a href="https://twitter.com/ColtFergus83460/status/1790563789525434618?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 15, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>Knicks are one win away from Eastern Conference Finals</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Donte-DiVincenzo.jpg"><figcaption>© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>Donte DiVincenzo and the Knicks won game five 121-91, and they are now just one win away from making it to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, New York had trouble in games three and four when the series was in Indiana, and they will have to go back on the road for game six. The home team has won each game in this series so far, so it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see this one go to game seven. Knicks fans are hoping to get it done in game six, but the rest of the NBA world wants to see a game seven.</p><p>If the Knicks do find a way to get that last win and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, they would likely take on the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are currently up 3-1 in their series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, and they are expected to finish them off at home in game five.</p><p>New York vs. Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals would be awesome to see, and both teams are just one win away from getting there.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo, Myles Turner heated Game 5 altercation has fans going bonkers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-donte-divincenzo-breaks-embarrassing-record-loss-pacers');   ga('set', 'title', 'Donte DiVincenzo breaks embarrassing Knicks record in loss to Pacers');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Knicks-news-Donte-DiVincenzo-breaks-embarrassing-Carmelo-Anthony-NY-record-in-loss-to-Pacers.jpg"></figure><h1>Donte DiVincenzo breaks embarrassing Knicks record in loss to Pacers</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-05-12T21:36:37-07:00">May 12th, 9:36pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-05-12T21:56:37-07:00">May 12th, 9:56pm</time><address><a>Brian Buyawe</a>Brian Buyawe is a sports aficionado with a passion for basketball, football, and Formula One. His hobbies include running, reading and playing in recreational leagues. Back when he was a kid, Brian stumbled upon an old Larry Bird documentary among his family's collection of movies, which made him a lifelong Celtics fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>On Sunday, the New York Knicks suffered a lopsided Game 4 <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-josh-hart-drop-truth-bombs-after-game-4-blowout-loss-to-pacers">loss to the Indiana Pacers</a>. Getting blown out of the water, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-tom-thibodeau-blunt-response-ugly-game-4-loss-pacers">the Knicks settled</a> for a 121-89 defeat, putting the series in a deadlock (2-2). There was practically no resistance from the team, who trailed big the entire game. At one point, their opponents even led by as much as 43 points. In fact, one Knicks starter, namely Donte DiVincenzo, <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1789776170424123825" rel="noopener">broke an embarrassing franchise record</a> that was previously held by Carmelo Anthony since 2012.</p><p>DiVincenzo finished Game 4 with a -40 plus/minus rating, the worst by a Knicks player in a playoff game throughout NBA history. (per StatMuse)</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Worst +/- in a playoff game, Knicks history:</p><p>-40 — Donte DiVincenzo (tonight)<br>-35 — Carmelo Anthony (2012)<br>-34 — Amar'e Stoudemire (2011)<br>-32 — RJ Barrett (2023) <a href="https://t.co/ovnQX8yyY2">pic.twitter.com/ovnQX8yyY2</a></p><p>— StatMuse (@statmuse) <a href="https://twitter.com/statmuse/status/1789776170424123825?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 12, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><h2><b>More on the plus/minus statistic</b></h2><p>For those unfamiliar with the +/- stat, it basically reflects how a team performs when a player is on the floor. Let’s say the said player finishes with a +3 rating. This means that while on the court, his team outscored the opposing team by 3 points. It’s the same thing the other way around, as a -3 rating implies that the opponents outscored the player’s team by 3 points while that said player was seeing action.</p><p>This is calculated by subtracting the opponent’s points scored when the player is on the court from the points scored by the player’s team while he is on the court. The stat is mostly used to give insights on a player’s intangible value, or how he affects a team’s performance besides the traditional box score numbers.</p><h2><b>In DiVincenzo’s defense…</b></h2><p>To be fair, one cannot make a solid conclusion about a player based on this stat alone. While it does give possible theories on his contribution, there are too many factors that come into play.</p><p>One issue is that the metric is determined by multiple players. If, for example, player A gets a +10 plus/minus, the actions of his four other teammates and his five opponents on the floor also factor into the rating. Specifically, if one of his teammates goes on a Kobe-esque scoring run by himself while player A is on the floor, but is barely involved in the plays, then player A’s plus/minus will still rise significantly.</p><p>On defense, if player A completely stops his man from scoring but his teammate gives up tons of points while both are on the floor, this will negatively affect player A’s rating as well. In other words, one cannot entirely isolate player A’s contributions on both ends.</p><p>This is just one of the many in-game factors that come into play when making conclusions based on a baller’s plus/minus rating. In other words, one has to have an apt knowledge of these other in-game factors in order to make a correct analysis involving the statistic.</p><p>And as for Donte DiVincenzo, his past few games have been outstanding. While he did score just seven points on Sunday, the guard averaged 26.5 points in the first three games of the series. During Game 3, DiVincenzo sank seven threes en route to a 35-point outing.</p><p>Knowing what he’s capable of, it won’t be surprising if a bounce-back game occurs in the coming days.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Donte DiVincenzo breaks embarrassing Knicks record in loss to Pacers

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-jalen-brunson-donte-divincenzos-instant-reactions-bonkers-game-2-win-will-delight-new-york');   ga('set', 'title', 'Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo’s instant reactions to bonkers Game 2 win will delight Knicks fans');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Jalen-Brunson-Donte-DiVincenzos-instant-reactions-to-bonkers-Game-2-win-will-delight-New-York.jpg"></figure><h1>Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo’s instant reactions to bonkers Game 2 win will delight Knicks fans</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-23T06:03:01-07:00">April 23rd, 6:03am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-23T06:03:01-07:00">April 23rd, 6:03am</time><address><a>Ryan Bologna</a>Ryan Bologna is an author at ClutchPoints. He studied journalism and communication at UConn.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The New York Knicks picked up a wild 104-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 2 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs on the back of Jalen Brunson and Donte DiVincenzo’s back-to-back three-point shots in the waning seconds that came <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-donte-divincenzos-reaction-unreal-win-76ers-give-fans-goosebumps">after the Knicks trailed</a> by five, and the two <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782607027111374962" rel="noopener">spoke on</a> the never quit mentality the team has under head coach Tom Thibodeau.</p><p>“The one thing about this team, no one really cares about who’s doing what, who gets the credit for what or anything,” Jalen Brunson said, via Knicks Videos on X. “We just want to go out there and win. I said last time if I played bad again and we win that’s fine for me. Obviously I want to play better, but to the point where we’re all sitting together no matter what, no matter what the situation is, we’re all gonna have each other’s back. And so whatever’s working at the time we’re just gonna keep doing.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"The one thing about this team, no one really cares about who's doing what, who gets the credit for what or anything. We just want to go out there and win."</p><p>– Jalen Brunson <a href="https://t.co/0i84QKhJkG">pic.twitter.com/0i84QKhJkG</a></p><p>— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782607027111374962?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Brunson has not shot well in the first two games of the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-magic-johnson-hails-real-hero-new-yorks-epic-comeback-win-76ers">series for the Knicks</a>, and if you were told that would happen ahead of Game 1, many would think that the 76ers would be up 2-0. Instead, it is the Knicks who came away with the first two games. In Game 1, Brunson shot 8-for-26 and scored 22 points, and followed that up with an 8-for-29 shooting performance in Game 2, but the three-point shot he made with the Knicks down five set up a steal on the ensuing inbounds play, which led to the Donte DiVincenzo three-point shot for the lead.</p><p>DiVincenzo said that the Knicks were <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782604526081515820" rel="noopener">confident the whole time</a>, despite being down five in the last minute.</p><p>“I don’t think our confidence ever wavered,” DiVincenzo said, via Knicks videos. “In the timeout, it wasn’t like the game was over. It never is, especially playing for Thibs.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I don't think our confidence ever wavered. It wasn't like the game was over. It never is, especially playing for Thibs."</p><p>– Donte DiVincenzo <a href="https://t.co/pUC61d2mMU">pic.twitter.com/pUC61d2mMU</a></p><p>— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782604526081515820?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The Knicks now will go to Philadelphia and try to win at least one of the next two road games to take a stranglehold on the series.</p><h2>Knicks players love playing for Tom Thibodeau</h2><p>DiVincenzo said that the Knicks never felt like the game was over, and that it was in part due to Tom Thibodeau’s coaching. Josh Hart <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782605906716324134" rel="noopener">raved about his coach</a> in the press conference as well after playing all 48 minutes of the game.</p><p>“Thibs has that unfair wrap, I think we all love playing for him. I think we’ll all run through a wall for him,” Josh Hart said, via Knicks Videos on X. “Right now it’s playoff time. You want to play every second you can, so that’s our guy and we’re gonna back him all the time.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I think we all love playing for him. I think we'll all run through a wall for him."</p><p>Josh Hart on Tom Thibodeau: <a href="https://t.co/zpSebjlpFR">pic.twitter.com/zpSebjlpFR</a></p><p>— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) <a href="https://twitter.com/sny_knicks/status/1782605906716324134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Hart has been an integral part of the first two wins for the Knicks. Brunson hopes to turn in a better performance to hope the Knicks get a road win in Game 3 and take a 3-0 series lead.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Jalen Brunson, Donte DiVincenzo’s instant reactions to bonkers Game 2 win will delight Knicks fans

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/knicks-news-donte-divincenzos-reaction-unreal-win-76ers-give-fans-goosebumps');   ga('set', 'title', 'Knicks sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo’s reaction to unreal win vs 76ers will give fans goosebumps');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Donte-DiVincenzos-reaction-to-unreal-win-vs-76ers-will-give-fans-goosebumps.jpg"></figure><h1>Knicks sharpshooter Donte DiVincenzo’s reaction to unreal win vs 76ers will give fans goosebumps</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2024-04-22T21:26:51-07:00">April 22nd, 9:26pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2024-04-22T21:26:51-07:00">April 22nd, 9:26pm</time><address><a>Joshua Valdez</a>Joshua Valdez started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper before becoming an associate editor for ClutchPoints. He is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. When Joshua is not either watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or working on a screenplay.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">NBA</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>New York Knicks guard Donte DiVincenzo continues to wildly surpass preseason expectations, as the sharpshooter delivered a signature moment at the end of his team’s 104-101 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Villanova alum drained a go-ahead three-pointer with 13 seconds left, giving the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/76ers-vs-knicks-game-2-breakdown">Knicks a 102-101 lead</a> that they’d never relinquish.</p><p>DiVincenzo sounded off on his heroics postgame.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"I mean listen to this… This is what we do. This who we do it for. That's it. 2-0."</p><p>Donte DiVincenzo on the atmosphere at MSG following the Knicks' thrilling Game 2 win over the Sixers 🗣️<a href="https://t.co/dJKUhffqjv">pic.twitter.com/dJKUhffqjv</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1782594385135165580?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 23, 2024</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>DiVincenzo’s dagger capped off a wild sequence. Josh Hart stole the ball from Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey, which then led to a missed three by DiVincenzo. Isaiah Hartenstein corralled a clutch offensive board, who then passed it to OG Anunoby, who then swung it back to DiVincenzo. Finally, the former Warrior knocked down his second three-point attempt of the possession, showing the ice in his veins that made New York want to sign him in the first place.</p><p>DiVincenzo finished with 19 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and a team-high +11 point differential. Will the sharpshooter help lead the Knicks to their first Eastern Conference Finals berth in 24 years?</p><h2><b>DiVincenzo has been a crucial contributor for the Knicks</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Knicks-Donte-DiVincenzo.jpg"><figcaption>© Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports</figcaption></figure><p>DiVincenzo has been a revelation <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/knicks-news-the-bizarre-reason-why-donte-divincenzo-cant-win-most-improved-player-award">for New York all season</a>. In fact, the 2021 NBA champion would’ve been a prime candidate for the league’s Most Improved Player Award, but he barely missed the new playing time requirement to be eligible to qualify.</p><p>DiVincenzo averaged a career-high 15.5 points on 44.3% shooting, with 3.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.3 steals. The Delaware native also recorded 29.1 minutes per game and a 40.1% three-point shooting clip, both career-highs. On top of that, he set a franchise single-season record with 281 threes made.</p><p>With second-leading scorer Julius Randle out for the season, DiVincenzo’s ascension couldn’t have come at a better time. Star guard Jalen Brunson was initially considered to be the team’s only other major threat on offense, but even he’s struggled over these first two playoff games. DiVincenzo and fellow Villanova alum Josh Hart have been the two unexpected heroes that’ve led the Knicks to a 2-0 series lead.</p><p>Hart registered 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting with a game-high 15 rebounds, including a 4-of-7 mark from deep across 48 minutes. The former Trail Blazer’s steal on Maxey was possibly the most important play of the game for New York, as it led to the wild sequence that resulted in DiVincenzo’s clutch three. Hart spoke about <a href="https://sports.yahoo.com/divinzcenzo-caps-desperate-rally-3-022420987.html" rel="noopener">the game’s dramatic ending</a>, via Yahoo Sports’ Brian Mahoney.</p><p>“It was crazy, it was hectic, but at that point we had nothing to lose,” Hart said. “Got to get as physical as we can and it panned out.”</p><p>Hart certainly lives up to his name, as the shooting guard’s hustle and physicality gives the Knicks an edge. His presence on defense and the glass has been constant all year, but him recently finding his three-point has been a pleasant surprise. The 2017 first-round pick shot just 31% from deep in the regular season, but he’s now 8-of-15 from long range so far this series.</p><p>Through these first two games, DiVincenzo has registered 27 points on 40% shooting, including a 46.2% mark from deep. That’s not bad for a player who never averaged more than 10.4 points per game coming into this season.</p><p>If DiVincenzo and Hart can continue coming in clutch when it matters most, it won’t just spell trouble for Philadelphia. The rest of the league will be put on notice too.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
15.5	3.7	2.7	0.4	1.3

2023-24 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
15.5	3.7	2.7	0.4	1.3

Donte DiVincenzo news

Donte
DiVincenzo news