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Donte DiVincenzo is questionable to play in the New York Knicks‘ final game before the All-Star break with a hamstring injury.
Resting him could be the shorthanded Knicks’ best option when they face the Orlando Magic on the road this Wednesday, February 14, before taking a much-needed break.
A team source told Newsday’s Steve Popper that DiVincenzo’s hamstring injury “was not believed to be a serious issue” which could mean resting it would do the trick.
DiVincenzo limped out of Monday’s game in Houston with 5:12 left in the controversial game, which the Knicks are protesting over an erroneous foul call on Jalen Brunson in the final play. But DiVincenzo hurt his hamstring more than a minute before he went out as seen in the video below posted by New York Basketball on X, formerly Twitter, illustrating the swingman’s courageous heart.
Already undermanned with more serious injuries to starters Julius Randle (shoulder), OG Anunoby (elbow) and Mitchell Robinson (ankle) plus key reserve Isaiah Hartenstein (Achilles), DiVincenzo initially did not want to leave his team, who were trailing by five midway through the fourth quarter.
But after a Rockets timeout, DiVincenzo went to the locker room and did not return to the game, sending alarm bells to the Knicks fan base. Luckily, it turns out they dodged a bullet.
Red-Hot Donte DiVincenzo
DiVincenzo’s injury could not come at the worst possible time when the Knicks are shorthanded and he is in the midst of the best stretch of his NBA career. Since Randle went down, DiVincenzo stepped up his game. In eight games without their three-time All-Star forward, DiVincenzo averaged 26.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists. He’s making 5.3 3-pointers per game on 39.6% efficiency.
Since the calendar flipped to 2024, only Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry (99) has made more 3s than DiVincenzo (84), per Statmuse.
If the Knicks decide to rest DiVincenzo, they will lean on their trade deadline acquisitions Alec Burks and Bojan Bogdanovic to fill up the scoring slack beside Jalen Brunson.
Donte DiVincenzo Credits Steph Curry, Warriors
After playing for the veteran’s minimum with the Warriors last season coming off an injury, DiVincenzo parlayed his solid bench play with them to a $50 million, four-year deal with the Knicks.
His career has took off with the Knicks especially when he supplanted the recently traded Quentin Grimes in the starting backcourt.
The Villanova product is averaging career-highs 13.5 points on 41.5% 3-point shooting. He credited the Warriors for his breakout season as Curry’s understudy.
“Absolutely, working with (Warriors development coach) Chris Weems. Got a lot of reps up, I think that was the biggest thing,” DiVincenzo said via SNY on January 19. “Just watching how Steph goes about (his preparation). Steph, Jordan (Poole) and Klay (Thompson) were huge for me in just seeing how they prepared every day.
“I watched Steph go 1-for-12 and come in the next day and shoot 1,000 shots. And I’ve seen him go 12-for-12 and come in (the next day) and shoot 1,000 shots. So it just taught me the preparation (needed) to be able to have the confidence in-game. Coming over here, I’m not changing anything about my routine….Good game, bad game. Good shooting night, doesn’t matter. I’ll just come in and do the same thing every night.”
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