The NBA playoffs are when competition peaks and tempers flare. Donte DiVincenzo and Myles Turner provided the fireworks in the New York Knicks‘ Game 5 win over the Indiana Pacers.
The two players collided in a third-quarter play and exchanged words after. Turner had to be restrained by multiple teammates.
Donte DiVincenzo dunks on the Pacers then gets into it with Myles Turner
After the game, DiVincenzo had a message for the Pacers’ center, which he shared with reporters in the Knicks’ locker room.
“They were trying to be tough guys. That’s not their identity… Nobody’s gonna fight in the NBA. Take the foul, keep it moving. You’re not a tough guy, just keep it moving.”
Donte DiVincenzo on his altercation with Myles Turner:
“They were trying to be tough guys,” DiVincenzo told SNY on May 14. “That’s not their identity…I don’t agree with trying to walk up on somebody, nobody’s going to fight in the NBA. Take the foul, keep it moving. You’re not a tough guy, just keep it moving. You’re not a tough guy.”
In a rare off shooting night for New York’s sharpshooter, DiVincenzo finished with just 8 points on 4-of-14 shooting.
But he stuffed the stat sheet elsewhere, tallying 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block in his 30 minutes on the floor.
It resulted in a wire-to-wire victory for the Knicks, who take a 3-2 series lead.
Game 6 is a home game for the Pacers, who won both Game 3 and Game 4 in Indiana.
New York will look to ride their momentum into a Game 6 win, and earn their first Conference Finals appearance since 1999-2000.
Hartenstein Defends DiVincenzo in Scuffle
Starting center Isaiah Hartenstein was one of the first Knicks to join in the scuffle, backing up DiVincenzo.
After the game, he talked with reporters about his mentality in regards to on-court physicality outside of the game.
Isaiah Hartenstein talks about getting in Isaiah Jackson’s face and standing up for Donte DiVincenzo and his teammates:
“They’re also family to me. If something happens to them, it doesn’t matter what kind of situation it is, I’m always going to stick up for them.”
“At the end of the day, they’re also family to me,” Hartenstein told SNY. “If something happens to them, it doesn’t matter what kind of situation it is, I’m always going to stick up for them. The last one, I was kind of hesitant, because I didn’t want to get my second T…We’re gonna stick up for each other.”
It was just one of many big moments for Hartenstein in Game 5.
He finished the night with 7 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 block in 31 minutes. Hartenstein’s 12 offensive rebounds were 7 more than the Pacers grabbed as a team.
According to Stathead, he becomes just the ninth player in NBA history to grab 12 or more offensive rebounds in a playoff game.
“I feel like the games in Indiana, I wasn’t playing like myself. I wasn’t being physical. I was letting them play how I play.”
Isaiah Hartenstein talks about his and the Knicks’ domination on the glass tonight:
Game 5 is a bounce back performance for New York and Hartenstein both.
His 17 rebounds are more than he grabbed in Game’s 3 and 4 combined.
Hartenstein cited physicality as the catalyst for his resurgence on the glass.
“I just wanted to be more physical,” Hartenstein told SNY. “I feel like the games in Indiana, I wasn’t playing like myself. I wasn’t being physical. I was letting them kind of play how I play. Just coming in, that was the biggest thing I wanted to do. Just be physical. Just play my game.
With a return to Indiana looming, the Knicks need Hartenstein to maintain that physicality if they’re to avoid returning home for Game 7.
Knicks’ Series Odds Up 3-2
According to Land of Basketball, teams who jumped to a 2-0 lead in the Conference Semifinals are 108-7 all-time.
The Phoenix Suns are the last team to blow a 2-0 lead in the second round, when they lost to the Dallas Mavericks in 2022.
And of 66 series to wind up 3-2 in five games, the team with the lead won 53 times historically. That’s 80.3-percent.
History is on New York’s side, even after they lost two of three to follow their 2-0 lead.
DiVincenzo finding his shot, and Hartenstein maintaining a physical presence under the basket, loom large as keys for Game 6.
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Knicks’ Donte DiVincenzo Calls Out Myles Turner After Game 5 Altercation