Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) completes the three pointer and runs up the court with teammate Klay Thompson (30) at the Chase Center in San Francisco on Fri Nov 18, 2022 (AP News photo)
By Jerry Feitelberg
The Warriors hosted the New York Knicks at the Chase Center Friday night. The Knicks came into town with a record of 8-7. New York beat the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets on the road in their last two games. Despite a 50-point performance by Warrior guard Stephen Curry in Phoenix, the Warriors found themselves with a record of 6-9.
The Warriors have yet to win a game on the road. They play well at home but are 0-8 away from the Chase Center. The Warriors’ head coach wanted his team to return to what the Warriors have been doing for the past eight years.
Sure, Curry carried the load in the loss to Phoenix. However, the Warriors have succeeded when all the players are involved in the scoring. The Warrior players know that it doesn’t matter who scores the most points. The team loves to spread the ball around and find the open man when things are going well.
In past seasons, the Warriors have had one of the top defenses in the NBA. This year, the defense has not been good. The Warriors, as a team, have been committing too many fouls. Coach Kerr wanted his team to make adjustments to improve in those three areas.
The Warriors listened, spread the ball, played defense, and beat the Knicks 111-101. What they could have done better was stop fouling. The only reason the score was that close was that the Knicks went to the charity stripe 34 times and made 32. The Warriors made eleven free throws in 20 tries. The 21-point difference allowed New York to stay close.
In the first quarter, Klay Thompson found his shot and knocked down eleven to pace the Warriors to 35-19 first quarter. Curry made two threes in the quarter, and Jordan Poole had five. The Warriors showed they still knew how to play defense as they held the Knicks to 19 points.
The Warriors extended the lead to twenty-two points in the second quarter, 51-33. Andrew Wiggins and JaMychal Green paced the Warriors offense. The Knicks found their offense late in the quarter. With the score 58-36, New York went on a 14-3 run the finish the first half trailing by 11, 61-50. The Knicks went into the locker room with the feeling they could somehow get a win on the Warriors home court.
The Warriors did not run away from the Knicks in the third quarter. Curry, who scored eight points in the first half, tallied ten points in the quarter. The Knicks didn’t wilt. They fought back. The Warriors won the quarter 26-24 to extend the lead to 13, 87-74. New York would have to find a way to stop the Warriors in the final 12 minutes to pull off an upset victory.
The Knicks, trailing 92-74, went on an 8-0 run to close within eight points of tying the game. Thompson, who went cold in the second and third periods, found his stroke and tallied seven points in the fourth. Curry hit a three to put the Warriors up 100-93. Coach Kerr inserted his second unit to finish the game. The Knicks cut the deficit to ten. New York ran out of time.
Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors are 7-9. Golden State is 7-1 at home and 0-8 on the road. The Knicks are 8-8.
The Warriors held the knicks to 34% from the floor. New York was nine -for thirty-floor from three-point range. The Warriors did the job on defense. The big takeaway from the game was the number of fouls they committed. It seemed like the Warriors fouled a Knick player on a drive to the basket every time. Yes, the team played with intensity, but they cannot give an opponent 34 free throws if they hope to win a game.
The Warriors had six players in double figures. Draymond Green had ten points, nine rebounds, and seven assists. It was a good night for Green. Wiggins and Thompson each scored 20 points. Wiggins had three threes, while Klay showed his All-Star form as he knocked down five threes.
Curry finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and ten assists. Curry had five threes, too. Poole’s line was 13 points, three rebounds, and four assists. Poole recorded three threes. The last player in double figures was JaMychal Green. The Warriors moved Draymond from a forward position to be the backup center to Kevon Looney. JaMycal Seemed to be in the right position at the right time as he tallied 12 points for his team.
The Warriors shot 45% from the floor. They made 18 threes in 50 tries. The Warriors recorded 32 assists on 41 buckets. The assists indicated the team was moving the ball and finding an open player to take the shot.
The Knicks’ leading scorer was Julius Randle. Randle had 20 points. R.J.Barrett had 18, and Cam Reddish had 11, and Jalen Brunson 13. Coming off the bench, Jericho Sims had a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds.
The Warriors go on the road to face the Houston Rockets Sunday night. They play the New Orleans Pelicans Monday night.
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