ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — The New York Knicks were in town to face the Golden State Warriors, who were on the second night of a back-to-back set, after having lost to the Nuggets last night.
The Warriors recalled Ognjen Kuzmic, but he was not available due to a shoulder contusion. Golden State also sent James Michael McAdoo back down to play in Santa Cruz so that he would continue to play a lot of minutes, as head coach Steve Kerr was expected to utilize all of his main players tonight, after resting four of his impact players last night.
For the Knicks, Carmelo Anthony was out with left knee surgery and Jose Calderon with a sore left Achilles.
1ST QUARTER: Curry Couldn’t Get Cooking Despite Two Early Treys
On his birthday, Stephen Curry got off on the right foot, drilling two treys early, but the Knicks kept pace. The first triple came after Klay Thompson dribbled around up top, probing defender Alexey Shved, as Curry snuck over to the left elbow. Thompson darted a pass across the court to Steph and he drilled it with his quick catch-and-shoot release.
The second trey occurred after Draymond Green slapped the ball away from New York big man Andrea Bargnani as he was way outside the arc trying to initiate the offense. Green outlet the ball to Curry who stopped at the same left arc and nailed the early-offense triple, galloping in celebration on the way back on defense.
But New York actually set the pace, as Lou Amundson made an impressive step-back banker from the left side on Andrew Bogut, Langston Galloway pulled up an buried a trey over Green after Harrison Barnes couldn’t catch Curry’s alley-oop attempt properly and subsequently got blocked under the rim by Bargnani, and Galloway hit another jumper while Bargnani added two more of his own.
Bogut and Curry connected twice, first on a lefty behind-the-back flick from Steph to the big man for a two-handed finish…
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…then Bogut went finesse with his own right-handed behind-the-back bouncer to Steph, who returned the favor as Bogut slipped and delivered an alley-oop to the Warriors center.
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Green added a triple assisted by Curry, but Golden State and New York continued to trade baskets as Shved got a shoulder past Thompson on the left side for a banker and Tim Hardaway, Jr. made a lefty layup going across the lane.
Kerr took a timeout at the 2:33 mark with the Knicks up, 24-22. New York head coach Derek Fisher had opted to go with a “twin tower” lineup of Bargnani and Cole Aldrich, who had subbed in for Amundson, and it appeared that Bogut was a little winded as he went to the bench, having unusually played nearly ten straight minutes.
Marreese Speights then checked in and paid dividends immediately, as Warriors fans have become accustomed to, getting a putback of a Green airball as Draymond took it strong left-handed down the left side of the lane.
But Galloway drained another three-pointer from the right corner as Curry gambled for a pick of Bargnani at the high post. Steph’s answer-back three soon after he crossed half-court rattled in and out.
The Knicks took a 27-26 lead into the second quarter, led by Galloway with 8 points, Shved with 7, and Bargnani with 6. Thompson led the Warriors with 7 points and Curry collected 6 points and 4 assists. New York outrebounded Golden State, 17-10.
2ND QUARTER: Holiday Got Birthday Boy’s Back
After a strong performance last night, Justin Holiday started the second frame and was in rhythm early, getting a catch-and-shoot from the right baseline to go after an inbound, splashing a trey from the top after Andre Iguodala posted up the smaller Cleanthony Early and dished the ball back out, and two free throws on a strong drive from the right side after Iguodala fielded a miss from Hardaway and led the break. Iguodala added a catch-and-turn-and-fire triple from the left elbow, and the Warriors took the lead, 38-33, with 8:46 to play in the first half.
The bench unit did further damage as Speights got a block on Jason Smith that ended in a skying Iguodala one-handed dunk assisted by Shaun Livingston on the ensuing break. Iguodala was great on the defensive end, getting a steal on Shved with the shotclock winding down, which resulted in Livingston leading the break again and flicking the ball to a wide-open Holiday for another splash from the right side, which made it 45-37, Warriors, with 6:54 to go.
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With less than four minutes to play, Curry and Green returned, replacing Speights and Iguodala, and the tandem would finish out most of the quarter with Livingston, Thompson, and Lee.
After Klay blocked a shot by Shved, then got rewarded on the other end by a catch-and-shoot trey up top on dribble action by Curry, Green stole Bargnani again from 35 feet out on the wing, resulting in a two-handed lay-in by Livingston. The Warriors were gaining momentum and now led 59-47 with 2:28 remaining.
Curry would then light the candles on his birthday cake.
Livingston got a turnaround post jumper to drop, then Green led another break upon rebounding a Galloway miss and found Curry on the right side in transition for a triple.
Shved then airballed an attack of the rim in traffic. Curry led the break this time, found Livingston down low in transition, but with a few Knicks back on defense, Livingston decided to pull the ball back out. New York lost track of Steph, who sneaked over to the left corner and received the dish from Shaun, swishing another trey. Fisher called another timeout, but the lead had grown to 68-48 for Golden State with 1:12 left in the half and Oracle chanting, “MVP!”
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Curry wasn’t done.
Shved airballed again, this time a trey attempt as he did a side-step dribble, surveying the action but not liking what he saw from the motion, and Curry fielded the miss and delivered a touchdown pass to Green for an easy layup behind the Knicks’ defense. Draymond showed the football touchdown sign and Steph responded in kind in celebration as Green slapped Curry a five on the way back.
Finally, after Shved scissored through the Warriors defense for an impressive righty layup from the left board, Bogut threw the inbound to beyond halfcourt where Curry received the pass, turned, and drained another trey at the halftime buzzer, giving Golden State a commanding 73-52 lead.
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Curry led all scorers with 16 points on 5-for-10 field, 5-for-8 downtown, with 6 assists. Thompson added 13 points, Holiday had 10 off the bench, Lee had 8, and Livingston had 5 assists, while Green added 4 rebounds and 4 assists.
Bargnani led the Knicks with 13 points on 6-for-12 shooting while Shved and Galloway each added 10 apiece. Hardaway had 8 off the bench.
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