SAN FRANCISCO — The Knicks left the game in Denver.
Their improved defense, shot-making, bench production—none made the trip to the Bay Area.
The Knicks were nothing like the team that swept back-to-back Jazz and Nuggets on Tuesday and Wednesday of the first quarter, and never recovered. In his fateful first 12 minutes, the Knicks trailed him by 16 points, treated defense like an optional exercise, and handled the ball without any hesitation. When the defending champion Warriors pulled off a one-sided 111-101 win at Chase Center Friday night, the positive vibes from those two wins felt like a distant memory. .
“In the second, third and fourth quarters, they played what they needed to do in the first quarter. But we gave them such a cushion that we couldn’t give them a real chance.
The Knicks (8-8) were frequently scrambling the defense, out of position, as the Warriors’ ball movement tied them together. Their offense often resulted in forced shots and ball-handling errors. held the Knicks’ shooting percentage to 34.5%, forced 16 turnovers and made 18 3-pointers.
Stephen Curry dribbled and shot around the Knicks, scoring 24 points and providing 10 assists. Andrew Wiggins (20 points) was by far the better Canadian on the court, his underperforming 18 points ahead of RJ Barrett, but from the floor he was 19-6 with 3-pointers. From the range he is 6 to 1.
Julius Randle finished with 20 points and seven rebounds, though he fell short of the virtuoso performance Wednesday against the Nuggets. Jalen Brunson, in his ineffective 13-point performance, he missed 11 of 13 shots. To make matters worse, Cam Reddish suffered a groin injury in the third quarter, and according to Thibodeau, his condition is getting worse day by day.
“I played badly,” said Branson, who usually takes the blame after a loss. “That’s the focus. I played badly.”
Backup center Jericho Sims was the Knicks’ best player with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds in 27 minutes.
The Knicks missed their first 10 three-point attempts and missed 26 of their first 31 shots. Obi his toppin dunked his second, hit his 3-pointer to the top of the backboard, and collapsed en route to taking the rebounding ball over the court. Barrett is still struggling with shooting (he has made one of his last 23 three-point attempts) and hit the rim on a pass attempt from just inside halfcourt. And the Knicks’ improved perimeter defense at the start of the trip was nowhere to be seen.
The Warriors hit seven of their first 13 attempts from long range to take a double-digit lead by just 3:34. A layup with just two minutes left until halftime.
“They were playing a little faster than us,” said Branson. “We made the road to the game a little easier.”
The Knicks finally responded at that point, going on an 11-1 run to stay within 11 at the break. Randle got off to a quiet start, of which he scored nine points. It was a manageable deficit considering the Knicks were beaten, beaten, beaten by the Warriors in his first 24 minutes.
However, the second half started in much the same way as the first half. Back-to-back shots from Randle and Barrett and Curry’s 3-pointers. The Warriors lead quickly returned to 16. That’s because Curry found Draymond Green in his one at the top of the arc and hit his shot for his 13th three-pointer of the night.
The Knicks pushed the fourth quarter to within eight with 5:54 remaining, but could not come close. The Warriors put the game away with a 13-for-3 run.
“We still have a chance to make it a great trip,” Randle said. “I have two games to go, two very winable games. I have a chance to have a great trip and go home feeling pretty good about myself.”
