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Chris Herring, ESPN Senior Writer
Timberwolves guard Donte DiVincenzo, playing at Madison Square Garden for the first time since being traded from New York two weeks ago, had to be separated from Knicks assistant coach Rick Brunson during a heated exchange after Sunday night’s preseason game.
Players and coaches were shaking hands and embracing after the Knicks’ 115-110 victory, but DiVincenzo and Brunson — the father of New York star Jalen Brunson — had a brief verbal dustup on the MSG floor.
“I was talking to Thibs,” DiVincenzo was heard saying on camera to Rick Brunson at one point.
The postgame exchange occurred after DiVincenzo had already been shown on camera at the free throw line shouting toward the Knicks bench earlier in the game.
“That’s what happens when they let you run the show,” DiVincenzo said twice before shooting a free throw during the first quarter.
DiVincenzo declined to specify who he was jawing with on the New York bench and suggested that he initially was enjoying an inside joke with Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau.
In terms of the postgame exchange with Rick Brunson, specifically, DiVincenzo declined to comment and said he’d prefer to talk things out privately with him.
The moments involving DiVincenzo, who finished with 15 points and seven assists, in some ways overshadowed the fact that it was four-time All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns‘ first game against his former team of nine seasons, and two-time All-NBA forward Julius Randle‘s first time back at The Garden after spending six years as a Knick.
Towns had 16 points and 16 boards, while Randle, still rehabbing from right shoulder surgery, didn’t play.
During the first timeout, the Knicks played a video on the arena’s jumbotron honoring Randle and DiVincenzo.
DiVincenzo, a key member of last season’s Knicks team who broke the franchise record for 3-pointers in a season, starred at Villanova alongside Brunson, Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges, all of whom now play for the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson had an arm wrapped around DiVincenzo, who served as a groomsman in the Knicks star’s wedding, during a chunk of the postgame verbal exchange on the Garden floor.
Jalen Brunson said, “I was right there,” when asked if he saw the exchange between his father and DiVincenzo. “It was words of affirmation.”
“My relationship with Jalen, that’s my brother and my best friend,” DiVincenzo said. “That’s a separate relationship. I’ll talk about that privately, and figure everything out. But it is what it is.”
Wolves star Anthony Edwards said he loves the competitive fire and aggression DiVincenzo plays with.
“You can’t be mad at him, man,” Edwards said, speaking about the guard’s play in general. “He makes all the right plays and shoots the cover off the ball. New York is definitely going to miss him.”
The other Timberwolves acknowledged feeling their fair share of emotion over the course of the night, too. Edwards called Towns his brother, while Minnesota coach Chris Finch said it would take a while for it to feel normal seeing the big man in a different uniform.
“It’s like a death in the family in some ways,” Finch said. “You got to make it through that first year and everything is going to be a little odd. Once we get started, it’ll be business as usual.”
Source: www.espn.com