Donte DiVincenzo defeats Kelly Oubre in showdown of former Warriors

The Knicks beat the 76ers in six games and DiVincenzo defended the honor of the 2022-23 Warriors

Two former Golden State Warriors faced off in an exciting first-round series. Sure, some would call it a matchup of Joel Embiid and Jalen Brunson, or of rival East Coast big cities, or even of style-challenged NBA coaches. But to us, it was 2022-23 Warrior Donte DiVincenzo versus 2020-21 Warrior Kelly Oubre.

DiVincenzo’s Knicks won a hard-fought series in six games, after an up-and-down game Thursday that went down to the wire, which DiVincenzo helped ice with two free throws late. DiVincenzo, also known as “The Michael Jordan of Delaware,” scored 23 points, blocked three shots, and made five three-pointers in the 118-115 victory that sent the Sixers home.

He also played all 48 minutes of the game, something that would be anathema to Steve Kerr. Why not sit DiVincenzo for long stretches of the 4th quarter for no apparent reason? Were Anthony Lamb and JaMychal Green not available to sub in for him? For the series, he played 32 minutes per game, putting up 12 points, 2.7 assists, and a block per game.

Meanwhile Oubre played 43 minutes and scored 17 points in Game Six, knocking down three threes of his own. Not surprisingly, he only registered one assist, but he also looked extremely handsome all game long.

For the series, Oubre played over 37 minutes a game and averaged 13.2 points, 1.7 assists and four rebounds, with nearly two steals per game.

Who had the biggest moment? It had to be DiVincenzo, who hit the game-winning shot in Game Two, delighting former Warrior greats John Starks and Latrell Sprewell. It’s not clear if P.J. Carlesimo was there to scream at Spree to put some mustard on his hot dog, just like old times.

Oubre got a big dunk on OT of Game Five, but he gets points for looking cool as hell on this steal and slam, which we would call a pick-six if you got triple points in basketball for style, but ultimately “pick-two” is never going to catch on.

DiVincenzo is locked up through 2027 with New York, while Oubre should get a huge raise from his minimum salary this season, wherever he ends up. Also, the Sixers did have former Warrior Jeff Dowtin Jr. (played 28 minutes in four games in 2021-22), but sadly, he did not appear in the series.

Does this mean the 2022-23 Warriors are now officially better than the 2020-21 team? Yes, but we probably knew that already. It does make you wonder if that shorthanded team could have made it out of the play-in and done some damage in the postseason, had Oubre not gotten injured, and played like he did the last two weeks.

Next up, DiVincenzo and the Knicks will play the Indiana Pacers, who don’t have any ex-Warriors. Former Warriors Justin Holiday will face the Minnesota Timberwolves this weekend, while Ty Jerome and Damian Jones have two chances to get past the Orlando Magic, who are ex-Warrior-free, though Joe Ingles did play on the Warriors summer league team in both 2009 and 2010.

Former Warrior Kevin Durant is out of the playoffs.