Is there any precedent for Donte DiVincenzo's shooting leap?
Much like a great many people — including the broadcast team of Mike Breen, Doris Burke, and J.J. Redick — I found myself wondering during Game 3 of the Knicks-Pacers series if there was any precedent for Donte DiVincenzo suddenly becoming a hyper-elite, hyper-high-volume three-point shooter midway through his career. Donte was already a pretty good shooter before this year. He'd made 36.2% of his treys on 4.7 attempts per game, and he'd connected on 37.9% in 2021 (before his playoff injury) and 39.7% in 2023 (after healing for a year).
But this season, he has taken things to an entirely new level. And after struggling through New York's first five playoff games (9.8 points per game, 33.3 FG%, 30.0 3PT%), he has been absolutely engulfed in flames over the last four (27.8 per game, 49.5 FG%, 56.1 3PT%), knocking down at least 5 treys in each contest, culminating with his 35-point explosion that nearly helped the Knicks to a Game 3 win.
So, the question: Is there any precedent for this type of thing?
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