It was a celebratory night for the New York Knicks and especially for star Donte DiVincenzo who scored 40 points in addition to setting a franchise record with 11 three-pointers in their win over the Detroit Pistons, 124-99. However, Pistons coach Monty Williams did not take kindly to DiVincenzo’s immense effort in his postgame press conference which led Knicks star Josh Hart to respond Monday night.
Starting with Williams’ comments about DiVincenzo and the Knicks as a whole, it was the Pistons’ 15th consecutive game against the Knicks to end in a loss. When asked about DiVincenzo’s performance, Williams interrupted a media member’s question and said, “I don’t care about their team at all,” according to Stefan Bondy of the New York Post.
“I don’t care about their team at all. I couldn’t care less,” Williams said. “Those guys, the way they got those 3s – I don’t want to be a part of that story.”
While DiVincenzo was the star of the game, Hart once again put in an outstanding effort as he recorded another triple-double by scoring 11 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and recording 10 assists during a 40-minute game. In response to Williams, he bluntly said that if he didn’t like the way DiVincenzo and the Knicks shot three-pointers, he “should have told his guys to defend better.”
“If he didn’t want to be a part of that story, he should have told his guys to defend better,” Hart said. “What else is there to say? We got a guy that’s cool, we’re gonna try to find the guy that’s cool. It’s common sense basketball. He’s the coach of the league, so I think he has the IQ to know if someone’s attractive, you’re going to go to him. So they’re going to be part of that story regardless.”