Donte DiVincenzo’s role only will be expanded further after the Knicks dealt away wing players RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley in the OG Anunoby trade.
That was immediately evidenced by DiVincenzo establishing a career high in points (38) while nailing seven 3-pointers Saturday night against the Pacers, even if the shooting guard couldn’t revel in his performance after the slumping Knicks completed an 0-3 road trip with a 140-126 loss in Indiana.
“To be completely honest with you, I don’t even care about the 38, and I’m not just saying that,” said DiVincenzo, who also matched his season-high with four steals, said after the game. “I like to win games. Individual achievements are cool, but even Josh [Hart] said it the other day, stats don’t mean anything when you lose. That’s really our mindset here.
“So it’s cool, I’ll pat myself on the back, the guys are happy for me, but at the same time, we have to focus on that we have a hell of a game on Monday [at home against the Timberwolves].”
The New Year’s Day matinee against the team with the best record in the Western Conference (24-7) is expected to mark the team debut for Anunoby, a 6-7 two-way wing who led the league in steals last season while being named to the All-Defensive second team with the Raptors.
Still, Tom Thibodeau wouldn’t fully commit to Anunoby or fellow trade arrival Precious Achiuwa being available.
The Knicks did not practice Sunday after playing on back-to-back nights, and have no morning shootaround scheduled ahead of Monday’s 3 p.m. start.
The third new Knick in the trade, Malachai Flynn, has been ruled out with a sprained ankle.
“Yeah, if we have to, that’s what we’ll do,” Thibodeau said when asked if he would play the new Knicks without participating in a team practice. “I don’t know what the logistics of everything are yet. But whatever it is, we just got to find a way.”
The Knicks (17-15) have played 20 of their first 32 games on the road, the most in the NBA.
Conversely, they are 8-4 at the Garden, but those dozen games represent the fewest played at home in the league.
“Going on the road, I don’t know what it is, it’s almost 20 games now, that’s a lot,” Thibodeau said. “So when you’re shorthanded, your margin of error is really tight. You have to hustle like crazy.
“So, I knew coming into [Saturday’s] game that it would take a lot. And it was a back-to-back for us. So we’re bouncing pretty good from OKC to Orlando to [Indiana], and it doesn’t stop. So we got the challenge of being ready very quickly.”
DiVincenzo has started the past 12 games since displacing Quentin Grimes on Dec. 8, and he’s averaging 12.9 points while shooting 47.4 percent from 3-point distance over that stretch.
“Him playing the way he did, I’ve seen it plenty of times,” said Jalen Brunson, previously a teammate of DiVincenzo’s at Villanova. “Obviously, [I’m] happy with the way he’s playing. I wish we could have made his career night more memorable by winning. So we’ve got to be better.”
After the Pacers torched his team for 140 points Saturday night, Thibodeau referred to the Knicks’ defense as “problematic.”
The addition of a defensive stopper such as Anunoby should help, but the Knicks now have allowed an average of 123.8 points in going 5-6 in 11 games since starting center Mitchell Robinson injured his ankle on Dec. 8.
In their first 21 games, they’d given up 108.7 points per game.
“When the season starts, you look at the schedule, but you don’t know how teams are gonna be,” DiVincenzo said. “You look at a three-game trip like you should get two of them, at least. But every team in the league has gotten better.
“That’s the challenge of this league every single night. Each year, these young teams are getting better and better, and there’s really no night off in the NBA anymore. So that’s the challenge, always being ready. You never know what’s going to happen, a trade could happen, injuries happen. Everybody has to be ready and be a professional.”