The Minnesota Timberwolves suffered a brief injury scare during their 122-105 win against the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday when Donte DiVincenzo left the game during the first half after taking a hit to the face. DiVincenzo eventually returned to the game, with his nose looking like it was in obvious discomfort. DiVincenzo’s facial appearance caused quite a stir from concerned fans on social media.
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Some fans made light of the situation seeing as how DiVincenzo didn’t appear to be very bothered by the hit to the face.
Donte DiVincenzo coming back out the locker room after Sexton threw a roundhouse elbow https://t.co/laWknkmrff
— Nate (@Tallsdurf) November 1, 2025
Babe wake up new Donte Divincenzo elbow to the face injury pic just dropped https://t.co/6fndIIsXU2 pic.twitter.com/2BR3YN9BRD
— Zack (@ZackKuznia) November 1, 2025
divincenzo going as j.j. watt for halloween with that very broken nose pic.twitter.com/cEiqeC61vy
— Brenda (@BrendaJWebber) November 1, 2025
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Others speculated whether or not DiVincenzo might possibly have a more serious injury.
Donte Divincenzo has a broken nose pic.twitter.com/bI9a7IB8Ot
— CJ Fogler 🫡 (@cjzero) November 1, 2025
The injury scare happened early in the second quarter of the Timberwolves game against the Hornets when Donte DiVincenzo took an elbow to the face from Collin Sexton. DiVincenzo was able to check back into the game, and he finished with 18 points, three rebounds, four assists and one steal in a little over 31 minutes per game. He shot 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from the field, 5-of-12 (41.7 percent) from the three-point line and 1-of-2 from the free-throw line.
DiVincenzo was part of a lineup switch the Wolves went with this season in moving Mike Conley to the bench and having DiVincenzo slot in as the starting point guard. Conley has since returned to the starting lineup as Anthony Edwards has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury.
Coming into Saturday’s game, DiVincenzo had appeared in all five games for the Timberwolves so far at just about 30 minutes per game. He had been averaging 12.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 43.2 percent shooting from the field, 41.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 85.7 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
The No. 17 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, DiVincenzo is now in his eighth season in the NBA, and his second full season with the Wolves. Minnesota originally acquired DiVincenzo in a trade before the start of the 2024-25 season that involved Karl-Anthony Towns going to the New York Knicks.