MINNEAPOLIS — The game takes.
Just over a minute into Saturday’s Game 4 against the Denver Nuggets, Donte DiVincenzo sat on the hardwood, at the left wing where the Minnesota Timberwolves guard has drilled so many 3s. Dazed by the shock. Betrayed by a tendon.
Nobody knew why he remained down. But he felt the pop in his right heel. He waved for the Timberwolves training staff to attend to him as he processed trauma. He knew he’d torn his Achilles. His night was over. His season was over. The comfort and security he had worked hard to achieve, again, was over.
“I mean, it’s …,” the voice of Minnesota coach Chris Finch cracked as he talked about DiVincenzo. He quickly corralled the emotion. “Yeah, I feel completely devastated for Donte. He was playing so well. He’s having such a great season. He’s the heart and soul of so many things that we do. You could just see the look in his eye when it happened. You kind of knew.”
The game gives.
With just over a minute left in Game 4, the Wolves’ Ayo Dosunmu dribbled at the top of the arc with Denver wing Tim Hardaway Jr. staring him down. Dosunmu tried to drive, but he escaped a swarm of Nuggets by dribbling back toward half court and resetting. But the shot clock ticked inside of five seconds. So he dribbled toward Hardaway and leaned into a pull-up 3-pointer.
And when it descended into the net, Minnesota had a new unlikely hero to fall in love with, including teammates who weren’t fully aware of the man among them, acquired in a February trade with the Chicago Bulls. And Dosunmu’s magical night had its punctuation. And Denver had a broken back.
“I didn’t know he was that damn good,” Julius Randle said after totaling 15 points and nine rebounds. “I don’t remember playing against him as much. I feel like when I was in the East and he was with Chicago, that was those DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine teams. … I don’t know if the opportunity was there as much. But damn, I’m glad we got him.”
This night, Minnesota won’t forget. Game 4 delivered the gamut of basketball emotions to the Timberwolves. Their 112-96 win over Denver, to go up 3-1 in this first-round Western Conference series, featured full pendulum swings of sentiment.
From fear to fervor. From grief to grandeur. From worried to winning.
DiVincenzo’s demise silenced Target Center. A hush that comes with understanding something bigger than the game happened. Achilles tears aren’t as devastating as they once were. But they still cost more than games. They hijack summers, threaten futures, alter contexts.
Then, Dosunmu’s dominance elevated Target Center. A roar born from the novel sight of a dream coming true, a star being born. And moments like these don’t dissipate with the warmth of a new sun. They sear themselves into the psyche of a team, of a fan base. Especially this one, because Dosunmu’s 43 points put the Timberwolves’ postseason rivals on the ropes.
Playoff basketball revealed all its temperamental glory this night in Minnesota. The Timberwolves’ chances of surviving the gauntlet of the postseason took a blow with the loss of DiVincenzo — and an injury to Anthony Edwards, too — and yet received a boon from Dosunmu. Heartbreak chased with revelation. Agony tempered by joy. A fitting dichotomy in the biggest game of their season of tumult.
“I’ve been in a lot of games that had a lot of emotion like this,” said Wolves guard Mike Conley, pressed into his 112th playoff game by the injuries. “This might rank as one of the top for me.”
Donte DiVincenzo’s Achilles injury just over a minute into Game 4 brought a hush over the Target Center crowd. (David Berding / Getty Images)
The game humbles.
DiVincenzo never flinches at adversity. The 29-year-old lives like he’s on a prove-it deal, so he finds value in having the odds stacked against him.
He’s on his fifth team in eight years. This season, he reached a pinnacle of what amounts to a second career, after being thrown on the free-agency scrap heap. He tore a ligament in his ankle during the 2021 playoffs, in Game 3 of the first round. He watched the Milwaukee Bucks’ championship run from the bench. He lost his starting job the next season and was traded to purgatory with the Sacramento Kings.
He was a free agent with no prospects in the summer of 2022. He signed with the Golden State Warriors for cheap, looking for a chance to resurrect his career. Playing alongside Stephen Curry worked wonders for his shooting. DiVincenzo signed a four-year, $47 million contract with the New York Knicks in 2023. A year later, he was sent to the Timberwolves in the Karl-Anthony Towns trade.
His first year with Minnesota required mettle. He had the best year of his career in New York. Shot 40 percent from 3 for the first time. Played a massive role for the Knicks in the playoffs. Then he found himself on the Timberwolves’ bench. Though he was a coveted part of the trade for Minnesota, DiVincenzo had to earn his place. He grew from a sharp-shooting seventh man to a Swiss Army knife in the starting lineup.
He’d built himself up again. Made himself desirable to any franchise that wants to win. This season, he played 82 games for the first time in his career. Started all of them. It wasn’t his best season as a pro, but an establishing one. His worth shone in this series. An invaluable player as the Wolves went up 2-1.
And then he took a 3-pointer Saturday at the 10:44 mark of the first quarter. It banged off the rim toward the left sideline. From a stationary position while watching the flight of the ball, DiVincenzo suddenly took off to chase the rebound. He planted with his right foot, then immediately fell to the hardwood, grabbing at his heel. One of his prime years gone. Just like that.
“When you go to war with somebody every night,” Randle said, “and you watch somebody compete the way Donte competes, prepares himself. Dude played all 82 games. He’s just the ultimate competitor.”
The game exalts.
It was Jaden McDaniels who turned up the heat in this series. McDaniels openly declared that Minnesota planned to attack the rim, called the Nuggets all bad defenders, and all but promised to expose the defense of Denver star Nikola Jokić.
But it was Dosunmu who led the charge.
In Game 2, with Rudy Gobert in foul trouble, Naz Reid ate up the minutes. Finch needed the size to contend with Jokić. But down the stretch, the Timberwolves closed the game by applying pressure in the paint. In Game 3, with the scheme on the table, Finch turned up the minutes for Dosunmu.
His speed, his experience cutting and curling around weakside screens, and his craftiness around the basket made him a specialized weapon against the Nuggets. They have no one who can stay in front of him. And Jokić isn’t quick enough, or vertical enough, to deter Dosunmu once he gets inside.
The collegiate star turned role player packs an ideal concoction of explosiveness and endurance. He’s 6-foot-4, 200 pounds, but built solid enough to play forward and guard. He’s either too strong or too quick in his matchups.
But clawing up the rotation from the end of the bench teaches a player some things. How diligence and discipline matter as much as talent. How routine mixed with perspective produces patience. How staying ready means not having to get ready.
Dosunmu scored a playoff career-high 25 points in Game 3. And nothing changed for Game 4. He stretched before the game. He talked to his grandparents and his father. He read Isaiah 41:10, the Bible verse he reads before every game, his marching orders to not be afraid or discouraged.
The same approach worked even better Saturday. He caught fire from deep — making all five of his 3s — which only made stopping his penetration more difficult. Dosunmu carved whoever Denver put in front of him. Off the dribble. Off the ball. In transition.
The touch on his floaters, the variety of angles on his scoop layups, the strong shoulders that absorb bumps. It’s like he was built to destroy Denver. And, thus, crafted for this moment. A new pinnacle in a career that seems to have shifted onto a new trajectory in these playoffs.
“I ain’t going to lie. It ranks No. 1,” said Dosunmu, who totaled 68 points on 23-for-32 shooting in the Wolves’ two home playoff games. “The magnitude being the playoffs, I would say just that alone ranks No. 1. I was blessed. I was living in the moment.”
“I ain’t going to lie. It ranks No. 1,” Ayo Dosunmu said of his 43-point performance Saturday to lead the Wolves to a win and a 3-1 edge in the series. (David Berding / Getty Images)
The game robs.
DiVincenzo’s deal has one year remaining for $12.5 million. He’s eligible for a contract extension this offseason.
But this changes things. That’s what’s so cruel. A player who does it right. He makes his bones playing hard. He developed his game. He overcame. He earned the right to get paid this summer.
If he recovers in 10 months like the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum, DiVincenzo could be back in February. That gives him a few months of regular season, plus the playoffs, to prove he’s healed before hitting free agency. If he returns after the standard 12 months, he could miss all of next year and become a free agent. Hoping he’s done enough for a team to want him without seeing him play for a year. This isn’t fair.
“To see that happen to him was tough,” Randle said. “It was just hard to watch. (As) somebody that’s been through some serious injuries myself, I understand the road he has coming up.”
The game rewards.
A South Side Chicago native and the pride of Morgan Park High, Dosunmu earned a scholarship to Illinois and in 2021 was voted USA Today’s National Player of the Year and became the first Illini player voted first-team All-America by the Associated Press.
For his laurels, Dosunmu got drafted by his hometown team, the Chicago Bulls, with the eighth pick in the second round. The local kid made the squad, even got a few minutes in the playoffs as a rookie. After two seasons, he signed a three-year, $21 million contract with the Bulls and grew into a reliable reserve.
Then, suddenly, they gave up on him. His minutes dipped. The perennial Play-In Bulls decided to rebuild and traded their best players. Dosunmu got shipped to Minnesota for a most uninspiring package: little-used guard Rob Dillingham, even lesser-used forward Leonard Miller, four second-round picks and a couple of used Prince vinyls.
This breakout moment comes just months before Dosunmu becomes an unrestricted free agent. The 26-year-old couldn’t have picked a better time for his splashiest performances.
“Incredible,” Rudy Gobert said. “Just poised. Very poised. Didn’t force. Just took the game as it came to him, and took what the defense gave him. … It’s been incredible, and it’s been getting better every day. So it’s really fun to be watching him just embracing this moment, stepping up big, big time.”
Saturday night was a tale of two spectrums in the Twin Cities. DiVincenzo and Dosunmu encapsulated the rollercoaster that is the Timberwolves experience. A team that makes its fans want to strangle something, only to strum their heartstrings with its contagious charm. The pendulum always swings in Minnesota.
DiVincenzo will be 30 the next time he takes the court for an NBA game. He must wage one more fight against the odds. One more bout with adversity.
He finds himself again looking up at the career he deserves. Wondering why cruelty revisits him. But knowing DiVincenzo means knowing he will get back. His defiance surfaced as his teammates carried him off the court. When he got near the bench, they let him down. Stoic, eyes steeled, jaw chiseled, he walked the rest of the way on his own.
The game tests.
“We’ll love him,” Finch said, “and we’ll be there for him.”
Dosunmu stepped to the free-throw line, the euphoria of a pending victory sweeping through the Target Center. The lathered fans poured their ecstasy onto the reserve guard as he prepared to cross the 40-point barrier for the first time in his professional career.
“MVP! MVP!” The Timberwolves fans serenaded Dosunmu, their way of proclaiming they see what he brought to this series, to their team. They recognized the difference-maker before them.
The game reveals.
“I know it sounds cliché,” Dosunmu said, “but I can’t and won’t take this moment for granted. Because I understand how long and how hard it is to get here.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that DiVincenzo played a massive role in the Knicks’ run to the Eastern Conference finals. The Knicks didn’t make the Eastern Conference finals during DiVincenzo’s time there.
