The Warriors limped into Madison Square Garden and left with a massive loss.
Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Donte DiVincenzo, and JaMychal Green were unavailable, leading to increased workloads for many of the Warriors’ reserves. As the rest of this season could have predicted, that scenario spelled disaster.
Golden State (15-17) never led and rested their starters for most of the third quarter because the Knicks’ lead was so insurmountable. In New York’s eighth straight win, 132-94, the Knicks dominated essentially every facet of the game. The Warriors are 3-15 on the road this season and 1-4 on their current trip.
The Warriors play again Wednesday, against the similarly scorching Nets, in the Barclays Center.
Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ dud.
Need to take one thing away
The Warriors are going to struggle offensively without Stephen Curry. One way to make up for that fact is to improve on the other end.
Against the Knicks, Golden State was far from adequate on the defensive end. The Knicks put up 100 points in three quarters, dropping at least 30 in each of the first three frames.
The Warriors needed to take away one of two things to get stops: 3-pointers and second chance points. They did neither.
Golden State tried to pack the paint to make things difficult on the Knicks’ slashers inside. But that left 3-point shooters with space. The Knicks are one of the least accurate shooting teams from deep, but started 11-for-21 Tuesday because of Golden State’s strategy.
By packing the paint, though, the Warriors should’ve been able to gang rebound and limit the Knicks to one shot per possession. Instead, Mitchell Robinson and Julius Randle were often first to the ball. New York built a double-digit advantage on the boards early and dominated the glass for most of the game.
Those two aspects, plus the season-long struggles with fouling, made stopping the Knicks look impossible. The Knicks doubled up the Warriors in free throws, made 17 of 40 (42.5%) of their 3s and hauled in 14 offensive rebounds compared to GSW’s four.
Curry shares an update
Steph Curry missed out on playing in one of his favorite venues Tuesday, sitting out his third straight game with a right shoulder strain. He’ll remain on the sidelines for the foreseeable future, too.
During an in-game interview with TNT, Curry provided new details on his recovery.
“I’m still in the early healing process,” Curry said on the broadcast, via The Game’s Alex Espinoza IV.
“I’m nowhere near picking up a basketball yet. It’ll be a few weeks. I think maybe til the New Year and I’ll start to key in on a timeline after that.”
The Warriors have five more games after Tuesday until the calendar turns from 2022 to 2023. Including the Knicks game, Golden State is 1-2 since Curry’s injury. By the time Curry returns, the Warriors could be in a precarious spot.
Jalen Brunson lighting it up
Many in the NBA world turned heads at Jalen Brunson’s four-year, $104 million contract. But he’s already proven his worth in the first half of this season.
With a bigger role on offense, Brunson is averaging career highs in points (20.8) and assists (6.2). He fits in perfectly with New York’s core of R.J. Barrett and Julius Randle as a guard who can create both on and off the ball.
Against the Warriors, Brunson repeatedly got downhill, draining tough floaters and fadeaways. He canned two of his first three 3-pointers. He’s not the quickest or most athletic, but he makes up for it with technical skills to get separation.
Klay Thompson started on Brunson, but Moody and Jonathan Kuminga also spent considerable time trying to stay in front of him.
No Warriors had much success containing him. The absence of Donte DiVincenzo (illness) really hurt in this area.
Brunson, operating the Knicks offense in the right gear all night, finished with 21 points in 30 minutes. He shot 7-for-16 and dished five assists without a turnover.