After the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 119-114 Game 2 victory in Denver, a reporter asked Anthony Edwards about Donte DiVincenzo.
“I love Donte,” he said. “I told him after the game, he got gorilla nuts. He’s willing to take any kind of shot at any moment in the game, no matter how far it is, and you got to live with it because he makes those a lot of times.
“When he took the three at the end today, I was like, ‘Ah, Donte.’ Then he made it, and I’m like ‘Let’s f—ing go, Donte.’”
The shot Edwards is referring to was a deep three-pointer with just 64 seconds left on the clock and the Wolves leading 112-111. Donte DiVincenzo caught the ball on the right wing, well above the break from Edwards. DiVincenzo rose immediately because Tim Hardaway Jr. appeared to be caught ball-watching Edwards. DiVincenzo ricocheted the ball in off the back iron, and Michael Grady yelled “cash” on the broadcast.
The shot gave the Wolves a four-point lead, but DiVincenzo’s night wasn’t quite over. With a 117-114 lead, he secured a defensive rebound, sprinted down the floor after passing the ball up to Randle, before getting the ball back and flushing a dunk with 3.7 seconds left to secure the win for the Wolves.
In the final 64 seconds, DiVincenzo scored five of the last seven points for the Timberwolves, more than Jokic and Murray scored in the fourth quarter combined (4 total). While the game likely has plenty of storylines – the Wolves rallied from down 19 in the first quarter to win – DiVincenzo was the constant throughout. He played the type of gritty team-focused basketball the Wolves have come to expect from him all season.
In a dismal first quarter, DiVincenzo was in foul trouble and on the bench after just 5:36 of gameplay and a minus-7 plus/minus. He fought back in a big way in the second quarter, though. He knocked down both of his three-point attempts, securing three rebounds and three assists.
Donte DiVincenzo found Naz Reid, Julius Randle, and Edwards with those three assists and was responsible for thirteen points of offense in the second quarter as the Wolves surged back to tie the game at 64 at halftime. DiVincenzo would go plus-13 in the quarter in 8:25 of gameplay. He had a team-best +20.7 net rating in the first half despite his subpar first quarter.
The third quarter featured more of the same. DiVincenzo would play 8:52 seconds and post a 77.3 defensive rating, while hitting another three, grabbing another rebound, and logging another assist this time to Jaden McDaniels. In a quarter where the Wolves were outscored by three, DiVincenzo finished with a +4, meaning the Wolves were outscored by seven in the three minutes he sat.
In the fourth, DiVincenzo scored seven, including the thrilling five points in the final minute and change. He snagged three more rebounds, including the game-sealing rebound, and he found McDaniels again for his team’s leading sixth assist. DiVincenzo finished plus-ten in the fourth quarter in 7:41 of play, finishing with a game-best +20 plus/minus. He also finished with a game-high plus-29.9 net rating and a game-best 91.0 defensive rating, 10.7 points better than Rudy Gobert’s 101.7.
“Kind of just focusing on the little things, loose balls, getting my hands on stuff, disrupting their rhythm of plays,” he said after the game. “That half a second where you’re disrupting plays, then Jaden gets back in front, or Rudy gets back in front, and then make them miss.”
Whether it’s the little things or the loud shots, Donte DiVincenzo has carved out a role with Minnesota as the grit of the team. The guy that every quarter finds a way to be effective in his role and disrupt opposing teams’ game plans, whether it’s hitting game-sealing buckets, pulling down rebounds, or simply moving the ball, DiVincenzo does seem to have an it factor the Wolves have needed all season, or as Edwards calls it, gorilla nuts.
