Golden State Warriors Leave No Doubt In Drubbing of Knicks

One night after Golden State Warriors’ fans were disappointed by head coach Steve Kerr‘s decision to rest his starters in a matchup versus the Denver Nuggets, the Golden State regulars delighted the Oracle Arena crowd with a 125-94 drubbing of the New York Knicks. Earlier this season, the Warriors put forth a rather lackluster effort versus this same Knicks team, raising some questions about their status as true NBA title contenders, but Golden State left no such questions after this game.

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In contrast to their February matchup, when Golden State allowed the Knicks to go on runs of 14-2, 11-2 and 16-0, and relinquished a 20+ point second half lead, the Warriors played like a team that wanted to bring Stephen Curry‘s 27th birthday in with style.

Though Golden State didn’t capitalize on their clear size advantage over the Knicks like they did at points in their previous matchup, the Warriors saw their jumpers hitting the bottom of the net all night, turning a one-point Knicks lead after the first quarter, into a 38-point advantage after three quarters.

Mar 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) attempts a shot between New York Knicks guard

Langston Galloway

(2) and center

Andrea Bargnani

(77) in the third quarter at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Knicks 125-94. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

At times, the Warriors force up a lot of threes, with many of their attempts coming either early in the shot clock or heavily contested, but when you have Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson in the same back court, it doesn’t really matter. On his born-day, Curry hit on 6-10 attempts from trey and Thompson followed suit, adding six threes of his own.

Starting at the beginning of the second quarter, and ending at around the 2:00 mark of the third, Golden State rattled of an insane 15-17 three pointers, a stretch that saw six different Warriors connect from behind the arc and gave Golden State complete control of the game.

In conjunction with their three- point barrage, the Warriors forced nine New York turnovers and allowed a mere 40 points over the course of nearly two entire quarters, the type of defensive effort that separates the champions from the contenders.

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But perhaps the most impressive aspect of the Warriors’ W was their ball movement. As always with the Warriors, there were a few questionable shot attempts, (albeit they went straight through the net) but for the most part, Golden State picked the Knicks’ defense apart with their sharing of the ball. Overall, the Warriors had 34 assists to only nine turnovers, but that only tells part of the story. The entire evening, it felt as if Golden State was perfectly in synch. Their passes were perfectly on target, their spacing was Spurs- esque and of course, their shooting strokes were on point.

Obviously, a mid- March victory against the pitiful Knicks is nothing for the Warriors to be especially proud of. I mean, they are already at 52 wins for this season. But, unlike their previous matchup versus New York, the Warriors exemplified exactly why they should be the most feared team in the entire NBA. They dominated every single aspect of the game, leaving the Knicks floundering for answers for majority of the final three frames. They locked New York down, they turned New York over, they hit threes, they moved the ball, and most importantly, played with their unique sense of flashiness, emotion and flair.

They locked New York down, they turned New York over, they hit threes, they moved the ball, and most importantly, played with their unique sense of flashiness, emotion and flair.

In front their home court crowd, Golden State is a league leading 29-2 and it’s easy to see why. Oracle almost gives off the vibe of a Cameron Indoor, or a Pauley Pavilion and the Warriors undoubtably feed off the crowd’s energy. With each fancy dribble move, or swished three-pointer, Oracle ticked a few octaves higher, and it most definitely impacted the players. They pushed the pace a little bit more, they made their moves with more confidence and swagger, and they made it perfectly clear how much they loved playing at home.

Though they struggled in their matchup at MSG last month, Golden State left no doubt this time around… The road to the Finals is going to have to go through Oakland.