It is possible and maybe probable that Donte DiVincenzo’s role would evolve if he continues to start.
His first taste of life in Quentin Grimes’ sneakers included a dip in his shot attempts, a result of playing alongside Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett, who all need to be featured in the offense.
In the early stages, though, DiVincenzo is not envisioning much of a change in his game.
“I didn’t really feel a difference to be honest with you,” the Knicks wing said Sunday, after entering the starting lineup in Friday’s loss in Boston. “I’m just a basketball player. Put me with any lineup, I’m gonna be me. I’m gonna cut, I’m gonna shoot some shots, I’m gonna play defense.
“No matter what unit I’m with, that’s who I am and what I’m going to continue to be.”
DiVincenzo went 2-for-6 for six points, operating primarily as a 3-point threat on offense, with a starting group that has several ball-dominant players.
He was a bigger part of the offensive flow off the bench, playing alongside distributors such as Immanuel Quickley and Josh Hart, and had taken at least eight shots in seven of the Knicks’ previous 10 games.
Grimes could not find his shot or a shot with the starting group, which eventually led to public frustration and then a demotion to the second group, which prompted DiVincenzo’s ascension.
Tom Thibodeau will not reveal his starting lineups early, but it seems likely that DiVincenzo will stick, at least for a while, as the starter.
“I look at the net rating of the starters and the bench, and then I just felt like it was time at that point to see if we could do something to get it to be better,” the head coach said Sunday after practice of swapping DiVincenzo and Grimes. “And so, I like the way the second unit played. But the challenge is it’s not about the second unit or the first unit. It’s about the group and how do we make the group play well? And there’s going to be mixing and matching along the way.”
It is possible the Knicks — who would be trading offense for defense if they stick with DiVincenzo over Grimes — could tweak the rotations depending on the opposing team. Grimes, though he was absent on offense with the starting group, is one of the team’s best defenders, and the Knicks’ defense has been gashed recently.
For DiVincenzo, starting is fine but finishing is cooler.
“The biggest thing for me is at the end of the game, all of us are trying to put coach Thibs in a position to not take us off the floor,” DiVincenzo said. “Have to give him some hard decisions in closing games. That’s everybody’s kind of mindset — and to win games.”
Publicly the Knicks are not complaining, but they might be the biggest losers from the In-Season Tournament.
Because they reached the quarterfinals of the inaugural tournament, in which they lost in Milwaukee, and then dropped a consolation game in Boston, they will play an imbalanced schedule that features an extra, 42nd road game.
Their draw forced them to play — and get smacked by — a couple of Eastern Conference powers, and Mitchell Robinson ended up with a hurt ankle in the loss in Boston.
“It was a challenge, but sometimes that’s the way it goes,” Thibodeau said. “You can’t cry about it. You deal with it, and you take whatever positives did come out of it and you move forward.”
Raptors forward Otto Porter Jr. (left foot contusion) has been ruled out for Monday’s game at the Garden.
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