Donte DiVincenzo knows what it will take for the Minnesota Timberwolves to win a championship this season.
DiVincenzo is well-known for being a champion, having won an NBA championship at the age of 24 as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks and having done so twice as an NCAA champion with the Villanova Wildcats. In fact, DiVincenzo won the Final Four Most Outstanding Player of the Year award in 2018 when he came through in the clutch with 31 points and five treys in the championship game win over the Michigan Wolverines in 2018.
While the Timberwolves may not have the best record in the league (40-31) as the current seventh seed in the Western Conference, they’re fresh off the heels of an eight-game winning streak and are a year removed from advancing to the Western Conference Finals.
As far as where the Timberwolves need to improve? DiVincenzo says they need to go from being a top 10 defensive unit into a top three unit as the playoffs start. Minnesota currently ranks sixth in points allowed per game and defensive rating.
“When you look at what our identity is here, we rely on the defensive end and we’re climbing to where we want to be,” DiVincenzo told Basketball Insiders in an exclusive interview. “We’re top 10 in defense right now. We want to be in the top three — that’s our goal. We can be one of the best defensive teams in the NBA and there’s only 12-to-13 games left. That doesn’t mean the clock’s running out to keep getting better.”
DiVincenzo: Defense Has Been There, Now Offense Starting To Click
The defensive side is obviously key if the T-Wolves want to go from being a playoff contender into a Finals contender. However, their offensive game has exploded with the returns of DiVincenzo, Julius Randle and Rudy Gobert from injury. It’s no coincidence that Minnesota went on an eight-game win streak during the returns of all three players.
DiVincenzo had missed 19 games due to a toe injury, with the T-Wolves averaging 110.2 points per game during that time frame. Since his return, Minnesota has gone 8-3 and is averaging 120.3 points per game during that span. That is drastically above their points per game for the season (113.4, 17th in the NBA) and would rank fourth in the NBA when stretched through the entire season.
“ I think you go into the playoffs playing your best basketball and you can hang your hat on the defensive end,” says DiVincenzo. “What’s different with this team that is starting to click is our offensive game. Defense has been there all year, but right now that ball’s popping. The ball’s moving. You see sometimes seven, eight guys in double figures within this win streak.”
The 28-year-old veteran once again reiterates the key is locking down on defense and continuing to move the ball around on offense.
”That’s the key for us is when the ball’s popping and moving and shots are falling, you win by 20-to-25 and when it’s not falling, you can hang your hat on defense, win the games by two or three,” DiVincenzo said. “We have to lock in these last 12 to 13 games and try to get as many as we possibly can.”
DiVincenzo: St. John’s My Pick To Win National Championship
DiVincenzo — who will forever be remembered as a March Madness hero — has the Rick Pitino-led St. Johns Red Storm winning the national championship.
”It’s hard to go against Duke, Florida and Houston,” says DiVincenzo. “It’s hard to go against those teams. I like the brand of basketball that St. John’s is playing right now, how hard nosed they’re playing. It’s a representation of Big East basketball. It’s hard to go with my team not being in it, it’s hard to go against the conference.”
The two-time national champion is speaking on behalf of his partnership with AT&T. DiVincenzo’s commercial with his former Villanova and New York Knicks teammates — Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart — which pokes fun at his trade from the Knicks to the Timberwolves will air during the March Madness tournament.
“It was honestly the most fun I’ve had in a long time doing stuff off the court,” says DiVincenzo of the commercial. “Not only with friends, but everybody at AT&T made it so simple and easy for me. Honestly made it look so much better than what I thought it was going to be.
“I hope everybody enjoys it. I know so many friends and family have said it to me, little things they’re laughing at, little things they’re pointing out, and that’s exactly what the whole goal was for me,” DiVincenzo continues to say. “To get it out there and have everybody kind of talking about it.”