Pistons coach Monty Williams was pretty frustrated. His team got trounced by the Knicks on Monday night, losing 124-99, and to add insult to injury, Donte DiVincenzo set a New York franchise record by sinking a whopping 11 3-pointers on his way to scoring 40 points.
After the game, Williams was asked about DiVincenzo's insane performance, and his frustration boiled over. He felt that DiVincenzo was kept in the game even after the outcome was clear, just to chase a record. Williams didn't mince words, telling Christian Arnold of the New York Post, "I don't care about their team at all. I couldn't care less. Those guys, the way they got those threes. I don't want to be a part of that story."
But hold up, how did DiVincenzo get all those threes? Well, he shot a remarkable 11-of-20 from beyond the arc that night. Sure, he was left in when the game was pretty much decided, but the only rules he was breaking were the unwritten ones. When Josh Hart heard about Williams' comments, he had DiVincenzo's back, as reported by Michael Scotto of Hoopshype.
Hart nailed it. In the pros, there's no room for coaches or players to whine about someone going for personal or team records. This isn't U8 soccer, where there are mercy rules. If you want to stop a guy from running up the score or his stats, you gotta defend better. And Phoenix, well, they couldn't. That's why they're sitting at eighth in the West, probably looking at a play-in game (and trying not to fall behind the Lakers). The Suns have got firepower on offense (even if they had a rough shooting night against New York), but their defense has been all over the place this season, and that's a big worry for Williams.
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