On Star Wars night at the Chase Center, the Warriors “Force” overtime, only to fall to the Dark side of the New York Knicks 124-122
By Tom Macasaet PhilBoxing.com Fri, 13 Dec 2019
San Francisco, Ca. - On a cold, rainy night in San Francisco, the Warriors and Knicks turned what should’ve been a boring game between two of the worst teams in the NBA to an exciting overtime finish for the sellout crowd.
The drama played out to the evening’s Star Wars theme with the two forces of good vs. evil battling for control to not have the worst record in the league. The Warriors had won the last 10 games against the Knicks.
The last time the Warriors lost to the Knicks was on March 30, 2014 in Oakland. That game had a young Curry, Thompson and the team playing shorthanded without their star players Andrew Bogut and David Lee.
Coming into the game on a 10 game losing streak, the Knicks were not about to have their 11th straight loss at the hands of the Warriors. After falling to the Trailblazers in Portland the night before, the Knick’s Marcus Morris Sr. had a season-high 36 points making 5 3’s in a 10 for 18 shooting night to carry the Knicks to their first win in 11 games.
Their length and tenacity around the basket gave themselves plenty of second chance points while denying the Warriors theirs.
The Warrior offense played well against the Knicks defense, getting 27 assists and shooting 43.3% from the field, but the Warriors’ struggle to defend the 3 continued to trouble them this game. Unable to get around screens and close out fast enough, the Knicks shot 12 for 29 from 3, which ultimately cost the Warriors the chance at adding to their win streak against the Knicks.
Julius Randle, who’s 24% from beyond the arc, shot 3 for 4 from beyond the arc, adding 24 points and 13 rebounds of his own.
The Warriors and Knicks battled in the first half, with the Warriors never having the lead. They attempted to gain on the Knicks with run after run, but each attempt was thwarted by missed opportunity after missed opportunity. If it wasn’t an errant pass, it was a missed layup from point blank range.
They ended the half down by 18 with a score of 68-50 Knicks. Early in the 3rd quarter, the Warriors got down by 22 points, but never gave up fighting. If there’s any great quality in this young Warrior team, it’s that they never give up on each other.
Other teams under the same conditions may just play games through until their stars come back from injury.
But the Warriors know what they’re capable of, and they proved it that night. They were able to bring the Knick’s lead down to 7 points going into the 4th quarter to give themselves a chance.
In the final quarter of regulation, the Warriors managed to keep the game within reach. With less than 2 minutes left in regulation, the Warriors tied the game at 103-103. But Morris Sr. scored two quick buckets to put the Knicks back on top by 4 points to make 103-107.
The Warriors continued to battle and got to 3 points down with the score 112-109 Knicks. With 7 seconds left in regulation, the Warriors in-bounded the ball to D’Angelo Russell at the right wing. He dribbled to the corner and lifted up for a corner three to tie the game 112-112 with 3.9 seconds left.
The Chase Center crowd erupted with such a roar that hadn’t been heard in a while.
There was suddenly a playoff atmosphere in the arena. The Knicks took an immediate timeout, missed their shot attempt afterwards and sent the game into overtime.
The crowd went wild with appreciation for the effort by the young Warriors.
There was plenty of hope riding into overtime with the Warriors, but much of the same problems that plagued the Warriors all game kept them from carrying any momentum into overtime and pulling out a win for the home crowd.
It was a truly valiant effort from a team on the cusp of finding their way. It might be a loss on paper, but it’s a small victory towards progress in the development of the young players.
The two teams will meet again in New York on March 21st of next year, and if this game is any indication, the Warriors should be able to exact their revenge on the Knicks on their home court.
