Donte DiVincenzo is in the midst of one of the worst shooting stretches of his playing career. Through six postseason games, the Minnesota Timberwolves sharpshooter has forgotten one of his greatest skills, burying a mere 18.4 percent of his 6.3 attempts per game.
Thankfully, if DiVincenzo's goal is to overcome this prolonged stretch of inefficiency and return to the level he's accustomed to performing at, there's a player who can show him how: Buddy Hield.
DiVincenzo and Hield began their respective postseason journeys in a strikingly similar capacity. Through his first six games during the 2025 NBA Playoffs, Hield was shooting just 29.0 percent from beyond the arc—a number that was greatly inflated by his Game 3 eruption during the first round.
Subtracting Hield's 5-of-9 performance in Game 3, he made just 20.0 percent of his attempts before finally figuring out how to right the ship.
Hield's rediscovery of his jump shot came at the perfect time, as he went off to the tune of 33 points on 9-of-11 shooting from beyond the arc in Game 7 of the Golden State Warriors' first-round series against the Houston Rockets. A game later, he torched the Timberwolves for 24 points on 5-of-11 shooting from distance.
The primary reason that Hield managed to overcome his lowly performances to become one of the Warriors' most valuable players was a tactic DiVincenzo can emulate: He just kept shooting.
Donte DiVincenzo must defy conventional wisdom, shoot his way out of slump
The trend that Hield established during the first round was one of ebbs and flows that directly coincided with increased volume. He shot 0-of-2 from beyond the arc in Game 1, 1-of-3 in Game 2, and then went 5-of-11 in Game 3.
Hield also shot 0-of-2 in Game 5, 0-of-4 in Game 6, and then utilized the increased repetitions to fuel his 9-of-11 eruption in Game 7.
DiVincenzo has admittedly attempted a similar strategy, going 2-of-12 during Game 5 of the Timberwolves' first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers and 1-of-7 against the Warriors in Game 1 of the second-round battle. As such, it'd be easy to write him off as a player who needs to take a step back.
Minnesota needs him at his best, however, and that means playing with confidence—and the brief moments of hesitation before each shot don't exactly speak to DiVincenzo playing confidently.
DiVincenzo is a career 38.0 percent three-point shooter who has buried 39.9 percent of his 1,521 attempts over the past three seasons. He also shot 42.5 percent from beyond the arc during the 2024 NBA Playoffs, when he appeared in 13 games and attempted 113 threes.
If the Timberwolves are going to get that version of DiVincenzo, then they'll need to continue to empower him to play through his shortcomings.
That process became more manageable with the announcement that Stephen Curry will miss at least the next week due to a hamstring strain. DiVincenzo will thus be relieved of the burden of chasing the two-time MVP off of screens and should, in turn, have more energy to expend on offense.
Perhaps the Timberwolves will ultimately need to make a difficult decision, but if DiVincenzo is empowered to play through his struggles, he should reemerge as the player his team needs.