Golden State Warriors’ Win at MSG Leaves Much to Be Desired
Following a loss to the Atlanta Hawks in a marquee matchup on Friday night, Golden State traveled to New York City to face the lowly Knicks at The Worlds’s Most Famous Arena on Saturday. With the Knicks mired in one of their worst seasons in franchise history, one would assume that the Golden State Warriors would be able to easily run away with the game and get themselves back on track. But instead, Golden State’s play raised more questions about their status as true title contenders.
After struggling to defend against Atlanta’s by-committee offense, the Warriors found it difficult to find a groove versus a 10-41 Knicks squad that was playing without Carmelo Anthony on Saturday night.
More from Blue Man Hoop
- 3x champion may come to regret forgoing Golden State Warriors reunion
- Golden State Warriors: History shows USA may need Stephen Curry for more than the Olympics
- 7 players Golden State Warriors might replace Klay Thompson with by the trade deadline
- Golden State Warriors villain pours on more pain to end USA’s World Cup
- Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry continues philanthropic efforts off the court
The game was highlighted by numerous unforced errors by the Warriors, poor shot selection and lackluster defense, as Golden State allowed the Knicks to go on runs of 14-2, 11-2 and 16-0 in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th quarters respectively. During each of these runs, the Warriors seemingly forgot what had gotten them their 20+ point lead in the first place and fell into the habit of playing isolation, jump-shot heavy basketball.
While the Warriors are always a threat from three point range, what helped them build their lead last night was strong post play from Draymond Green, David Lee and Marreese Speights. In the first half Golden State made it a point to repeatedly feed their big men and have them attack New York’s below average defensive front court, getting easy baskets and drawing fouls with consistency. By halftime, Lee had 10 points and had already attempted six free throws, and Green was well on his way to a second consecutive double-double with 16 points and 6 rebounds.
Draymond Green helped the Warriors build a large first half lead with his dominance both inside and outside of the paint.
Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
But, the Warriors insisted on playing their run-and-gun style of offense, which resulted in multiple egregious sequences such as consecutive fast break turnovers at one point in the second quarter. Golden State was too focused on forcing the issue, instead of taking what the opposition was giving them. If the Warriors are to be taken seriously as a championship contender, they must understand how to variate their style of play depending on the situation.
In a game in which New York didn’t even attempt to get out and run (the Knicks had only five fast break points), Golden State was hellbent on rushing down the court, even though more often than not, New York had their transition defense set. The Knicks were able to sneak into passing lanes and get steals (New York had 19 points off 14 Warriors turnovers), which didn’t allow the Warriors to get to the rim and draw contact.
After building a 16-point halftime lead and eventually going up by 26 at one point behind strong play from their big men, the Warriors’ offense curiously stopped featuring their big men, and instead repeatedly fed the ball to Klay Thompson to start the second half. After a 1-8 first half shooting performance, it’s possible that head coach Steve Kerr simply wanted to see if Thompson was able to get on a hot streak coming out of the locker room, but after a few misses it was puzzling that the Warriors continued to feed Klay.
Thompson played the entire third quarter and by himself shot a ridiculous 42.9% of his team’s shots for the period while also accounting for 50% of the Warriors’ turnovers for the period. Individually, Thompson wasn’t horrible (he shot 4 of 9 for the quarter), but in the context of the game, having one player take nearly half of the team’s shots while shooting less than 45% isn’t necessarily a blueprint for success. Especially when the bulk of Thompson’s attempts were coming on contested pull-up jumpers, not drives or spot ups.
The Warriors’ poor shot selection continued to plague them deep into the fourth, as they went scoreless for over six minutes at one point and watched their lead get whittled to five points. And while Stephen Curry was eventually able to nail two big threes down the stretch to help put the Knicks away, the Warriors didn’t play well at all in the closing minutes of the game.
The Warriors can’t continue to rely on Steph to bail them out at the end of games, they must focus on playing with more consistency. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
As the Knicks rattled off 16 unanswered points, Golden State continued to loaf off of offense, choosing to watch Stephen Curry hoist contested jump shots (Curry shot 46.2% of Golden States 4th quarter shots) instead of running anything that resembled an offensive system. Curry, who finished the game with 0 assists for the first time all season, missed a pull-up jumper, dribbled the ball into the backcourt off his foot and air balled a three pointer on back-to-back-to-back possessions before ending the Knicks’ run.
Though the Warriors were able to leave MSG with a 14 point victory, that was more due to the fact that the Knicks field a team composed of end of the roster NBA players, than the fact that they played well.
And you know what?
Against most teams in the league, a sub-par effort is enough for the Warriors to come away with a win. But as the calendar flips closer and closer to April, the contenders begin to separate themselves from the pretenders. And if the Warriors can’t figure out how to hold the advantage against the league’s bottom feeders, who knows how they’ll fare versus the league’s elite.