ORACLE ARENA, OAKLAND, CA — Two nights after beating the New Orleans Pelicans, the Golden State Warriors (60-6) hosted the New York Knicks (28-40) in Oakland.
The Warriors were without Andre Iguodala (left ankle sprain), Kevon Looney (right hip inflammation), and Festus Ezeli (left knee surgery). All three would also not be expected to make the 3-game roadtrip starting this weekend.
The Knicks were without Lance Thomas (left MCL).
1st Quarter – Chef Makes A Late Appearance
The Warriors took nearly four minutes to score their first bucket before Andrew Bogut got this alley-oop from Stephen Curry…
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…but the Knicks also had trouble scoring as well. Carmelo Anthony, Klay Thompson, and Harrison Barnes all started off cold.
Bogut stayed aggressive and, after setting a pick up high for Curry for a triple that made it 5-4, Warriors, with 7:40 remaining, did well to tap out missed shots, then putback-dunked his own miss on an attack versus Robin Lopez.
Anthony started just 0-for-4, but the Warriors were also not finding the net, going just 4-for-14, but they held a 9-6 lead with 5:15 to go.
Out of the timeout, Curry went “Raisin Bran” (two scoops), both high-arcing rainbows, one with the righty then the next with the lefty as Kyle O’Quinn was late reacting:
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Leandro Barbosa checked in and immediately contributed, getting two free throws on a drive with the harm and rebounding a missed jumper by Jose Calderon, leading the break, and finding Marreese Speights for the lefty layup.
Knicks head coach Kurt Rambis called timeout as Golden State took a 19-9 lead with 2:56 left.
Steph then buried three threes on consecutive possessions, getting one off of a pick-and-roll from Draymond Green, from the top via Shaun Livingston in the right block, then from the left arc on Green’s fourth assist.
Jose Calderon even made contact on that one, but there was no call.
Marreese Speights added a triple, Green’s fifth assist, with 39 seconds to play. Curry back-rimmed yet another triple try, and O’Quinn missed an embarrassing-looking scoop at the buzzer, to the delight of #Roaracle.
2nd Quarter – More Splashes From the Bros
The bench unit increased the lead as Speights drilled a triple from up top, Barbosa got an “and-one” layup, then Speights got a rebound, outlet to Livingston, who brought it up and pulled up from 17 feet for a jumper.
That pushed the Warriors’ lead to 39-21 with 10:43 remaining, and they weren’t done.
Klay Thompson probed the right side, went with a behind-the-back pass to Anderson Varejao at the free throw line, who swung the ball over to Brandon Rush on the left wing for a catch-and-shoot triple.
Later, Varejao had the ball inside the paint, lost the handle, but Livingston recovered, back-flipped to Barnes on the right side, who made a move to the baseline, then fed Varejao for an uncontested dunk.
Rambis took another timeout as Golden State’s lead grew to 44-25 with 7:47 to play.
The Warriors’ lead waned a bit as Kevin Seraphin scored 8 of the Knicks’ next 12 points.
Thompson got a nice pick from Varejao for a pull-up triple on the right wing, but after some ball movement, Anthony finally drilled a three from up top and Warriors head coach Steve Kerr took a timeout with 4:37 left with Golden State up, 50-36.
Kerr re-inserted Curry and Green and, on a set play, Rush got a dunk fed by Draymond, then Steph sent an alley-oop to Bogut again.
Arron Afflalo answered with a jumper and an assist to another Anthony triple, but Bogut got a pass from Curry up top, pitched it back to Steph, and another three rained down on Oracle.
With 2:18 to go, the Warriors led, 57-42, on an officials’ timeout as Green set an in-transition pick on Calderon’s back-side, Calderon crumpling to the floor, holding his knee.
After the timeout, Curry got a layup on the right side, then Klay’s jumper went short, but he got his own rebound, flipping the ball over to Barnes open on the right side.
Barnes missed the three badly, with Robin Lopez closing out nicely, but Bogut corralled the rebound and reloaded Thompson from the same spot on the right wing, and this time Klay drilled it to put the Warriors up, 62-44.
Anthony answered with a turnaround fade, but Curry missed a three, Tu Holloway also missed, and with 2.9 seconds remaining, Klay got the board, took a couple dribbles, and his runner from halfcourt hit back rim, but nearly blew the roof off of the arena.
Curry led all scorers with 21 points, Thompson added 11 points and 7 rebounds, and Green had 6 assists.
Anthony led the Knicks with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists.
(Photo: @letsgowarriors Instagram account via @nosa_khare)
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