Knicks' grittiness goes unrewarded in tense 97-94 loss to Warriors

[ad_1]

The Knicks wrapped up their five-game California road trip on a sour note, falling to the red-hot Golden State Warriors, 97-94, on Saturday night at Chase Center.

Here are the takeaways…

— The Knicks made a concerted effort to run their offense through Karl-Anthony Towns from the jump, and his aggressiveness in the paint yielded six points and four rebounds within the first three minutes of action. It was a clear message sent to Warriors veteran Draymond Green, who unfairly criticized Towns for missing their first meeting of the season back on March 4.

— Towns' presence didn't overwhelm Golden State in the first quarter, however. There were a combined 63 points scored, along with 11 lead changes. But the Knicks stressed ball movement down low in the opening period, and wound up tallying twice as many paint points (20-10) as the Warriors.

— The back-and-forth nature of the first half wasn't devoid of physicality or foul trouble. And much to the Knicks' chargin, defensive miscues restricted Towns' playing time. He committed his third foul with 8:08 left in the second quarter, and before leaving the floor for the remainder of the half, he ignited the crowd by briefly squabbling with Green.

— It wasn't the least bit surprising to see the Knicks discombobulated with Towns on the bench and captain Jalen Brunson inactive due to a week-to-week ankle injury. They scored just 19 points in the second quarter, compared to 31 in the first, and Mitchell Robinson was visibly gassed on both ends of the court as Towns' replacement. New York simply lacked rhythm.

— Luckily for the Knicks, persistence from their supporting cast kept the score close. The Warriors were also limited to 19 second-quarter points, despite contributions from all players in their 10-man rotation. If not for nine turnovers that resulted in 10 Warriors points, the Knicks would've entered halftime with the lead. Instead they trailed, 54-40.

— The second half opened with Towns back on the court, and he wasted no time getting involved. He drained a three from the right wing within the first 30 seconds, and three possessions later, he bumped his points…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sny.tv/articles/knicks-warriors-takeaways-3-15-25

Author :

Publish date : 2025-03-16 03:10:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.