Donte DiVincenzo and the New York Knicks have done it. They protected home-court advantage against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of their Eastern Conference Playoff series.
New York won the opener this past weekend and was looking to take a 2-0 stranglehold on the series Monday night inside Madison Square Garden.
For a while there, it did not look like this was going to happen. Philadelphia took a four-point lead into the half. Joel Embiid and Co. were up 100-96 with 1:09 remaining in the fourth quarter after consecutive three-pointers from Tyrese Maxey.
That’s when things went bananas. MVP candidate Jalen Brunson nailed a three-point with 27.1 seconds remaining to pull the Knicks within one.
The 76ers then turned the ball over with 16.1 seconds remaining after Maxey fell to the hardwood. After DiVincenzo missed an open three, Isaiah Hartenstein came up with the offensive rebound. The ball made its way back to DiVincenzo who would connect on the three-pointer to put the Knicks in the lead for good and send fans inside MSG into an absolute frenzy.
Talk about having ice water run through your veins. In reality, DiVincenzo didn’t even hestitate. He had all the confidence in the world that this would go down despite missing just seconds earlier.
- Donte DiVincenzo stats (Game 2): 19 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 5-of-10 shooting
That fourth three-pointer from the big-time free agent addition did Philadelphia in. OG Anunoby would go on to make two free throws before Embiid missed a three as time expired with the Knicks coming out on top by the score of 104-101.
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NBA world reacts to Donte DiVincenzo giving New York Knicks 2-0 series lead
As all of this was playing out in the Big Apple, those watching the drama unfold had their reactions to DiVincenzo’s dagger three.