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New York Knicks shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo had an animated interaction with a heckling Chicago Bulls fan during their 108-100 loss on Friday, April 5, at United Center.
The Bulls fan, who goes with his X handle @BeauLWagner, yelled at DiVincenzo, saying, “Tuck in your shirt!”
The Knicks guard turned around looked at the fan and replied, “Shut the [expletive] up!”
The Bulls fan, who was sitting courtside, lowered his voice and said, “I mean, it’s a rule in the NBA.”
It did not stop there.
The Bulls fan also called DiVincenzo “Charmin soft” and claimed he had a hand in DiVincenzo struggling against the Bulls.
“Bro Donte DiVincenzo scored 10… TEN points. I was up in his head from the jump ball. He’s Charmin soft. Talking to me during a live play. (laugh emoji),” the fan posted on X, formerly Twitter, after the game.
The Knicks guard struggled on 4 of 12 shooting for only 10 points, one night after scoring 21 points on 6 of 13 shooting in a comeback win against the Sacramento Kings.
It was a forgettable performance for DiVincenzo, the new Knicks record-holder for most 3-pointers made and attempted in a single season. The former Villanova guard already hit 262 3-pointers, 21 more than Evan Fournier’s previous record (241 3-pointers during the 2021-22 season), and attempted 656, 20 more than Julius Randle’s 636 attempts last season.
Josh Hart Ejected
It was not only DiVincenzo who had a forgettable night. His college teammate, Josh Hart, also hastened the Knick’s loss with his ejection late in the first quarter.
Hart was tossed with 34.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter following what he argued to be an inadvertent flying kick to Bulls’ guard Javonte Green on the side of his head.
The referees had a lengthy review before making the costly call.
“By rule, we considered the act unnecessary and excessive, therefore it’s a flagrant foul penalty 2,” crew chief Scott Foster said in the NBA official pool report. “Intent is not a criteria for what we do when we are ruling on a flagrant foul penalty 2 or 1. However, wind up, impact and follow through, potential for injury, whether the act was a non-basketball play, and location of the contact as well as whether we thought it was a reckless act are all the criteria that we felt were met for this decision.”
Hart left the game with only 1 rebound and 1 assist in 11 minutes, his second-shortest stint this season.
The Knicks sorely missed Hart, who entered the game averaging 10.8 rebounds with 12.2 points and 6.0 assists per game since he replaced the injured Julius Randle as their starting power forward.
Bulls, Bulls and Bulls Again
The loss prevented the Knicks from jumping to solo third after the Orlando Magic also lost (to the Charlotte Hornets) on the same night. Both teams have identical 45-32 record with five games left in the regular season.
The Knicks are camping in Chicago for five nights as they will face the Bulls again on Tuesday, April 9, after a quick trip to Milwaukee on Sunday, April 7. The Bucks hold a full two-game lead over the Knicks for the second seed in the East.
A third meeting with the Bulls in nine days will wind up the Knicks’ regular season schedule on April 14.
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