Tom Thibodeau has not been shy about riding a hot hand from his second unit down the stretch of games.
In Thursday’s late-developing win over the Pistons, it was Donte DiVincenzo’s turn to remain on the court for all of the fourth quarter.
The offseason free-agent signing drained three fourth-quarter 3-pointers and four in all to help the Knicks to a 118-112 win.
“When you’re playing the way that we were playing, you’re searching, and then that group got going a little bit, so that’s how we finished,” Thibodeau said. “Those were big shots, and I thought that they came from within the context of guys moving the ball and creating advantages and then finding the open man.
“He happened to be the guy and he was open and he didn’t hesitate to shoot. So I think that that’s important.”
DiVincenzo is averaging 8.3 points per game and shooting 39.8 percent from 3-point land.
Monty Williams joked before the game that Thibodeau was an assistant coach with the Knicks “back in the ’40s,” although their tenures with the franchise didn’t align in the 1990s.
The current Pistons head coach was a first-round pick by the Knicks in 1994, but he was traded during his second NBA season, and Thibodeau joined Jeff Van Gundy’s coaching staff the following year.
Still, the duo have worked together in recent years with Team USA, and Williams said Thursday night that Thibodeau was one of the people he leaned on after his wife, Ingrid, was killed in an auto accident in 2016.
“He’s one of the kind, more intentional people I’ve [known] since he’s been in the NBA. I enjoyed competing against him but I also enjoyed learning from him,” Williams said. “It’s real personal. I went through a really tough time with the loss of my family and he did something for me that had a huge impact on the healing process and getting through.
“He gave me something I had no idea he would give to me and I never forgot it. I still have it. You never know this brotherhood we have. I have a brotherhood of players, but I also have a brotherhood of coaching and Thibs is a big part of it.”
Pistons wing Bojan Bogdanovic (calf) had been listed as questionable to make his season debut, but he missed his 19th straight game.
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