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 Having lost all of an eight-point, fourth-quarter lead and mired
in a late-game offensive funk, the Knicks found themselves in an
81-all tie when Golden State star point guard Stephen Curry went up
for a 3-pointer with 2:11 to play.
Improbably, five seconds later, New York power forward Amar'e
Stoudemire was converting two tiebreaking free throws that gave his
team the lead for good.
Explaining what happened in between, Curry chose to use the word
"weird."
Curry, who hit a game-tying 3-pointer less than a minute earlier,
tried again from 27 feet. The shot went off the mark but was
deflected 25 feet from the hoop, where Curry and Knicks standout
forward Carmelo Anthony desperately pursued it.
Curry won the race, but despite having a fresh 24-second clock with
which to work, he took one step and fired up a uncharacteristically
wild 21-footer that was well off the mark.
"He was on my arm," Curry said of his decision to take the awkward
shot. "I was trying to sell the call. It didn't work, and it looks
terrible. It was one of those weird plays."
As it turns out, it could also be a potentially difference-making
play, as it propelled New York (31-43) within one game of the idle
Atlanta Hawks for the eighth and final playoff spot in the East.
"A great team win for us," Anthony said. "When we play like that as
a team, we get results like this."
Warriors center Jermaine O'Neal compounded Curry's mistake by
fouling Stoudemire going for the rebound of a shot that never hit
the rim. Stoudemire's free throws with 2:06 to play put the visitors
in front.
"It was one of those grind-out games," Knicks coach Mike Woodson
said. "It was back and forth, and it was our defense that held tight
at the end."
The win allowed the Knicks to even their record at 2-2 on their
ongoing, five-game trip. They visit the Utah Jazz on Monday night.
"To come in here and get this win means a lot for our ballclub,"
Woodson said. "Now we have to validate this and go to Utah and try
to get a win there before we head back home."
Anthony had a basket and two free throws down the stretch to help
New York hold on. Curry missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with
30.9 seconds to go and then committed a turnover on Golden State's
final possession.
"We have lost some games to teams that we are better than," a
disappointed Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. "That is a
more-than-capable New York team that has underachieved this year."
Shooting guard Klay Thompson's 3-pointer with 1:03 to go got the
Warriors within 85-84, but Anthony dropped in his two free throws
for a three-point edge with 45.4 seconds left.
Shooting guard J.R. Smith had 14 of his team-high 21 points in a
game-changing, 34-12 second quarter for the Knicks, who won only
once on their previous 11 trips to Oakland.
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Anthony finished with 19 points on a 7-for-21 night. Stoudemire
contributed a 15-point, 13-rebound double-double, and backup guard
Tim Hardaway Jr. added 15 points in the win.
Curry had a game-high 32 points for the Warriors, who fell two games
behind the Portland Trail Blazers in their battle for the fifth seed
in the West. The All-Star hit 10 of his 21 shots, while his
teammates combined to go just 18-for-58.
Thompson had 15 points, and small forward Andre Iguodala 12 for the
Warriors, who played without frontcourt starters Andrew Bogut
(pelvic contusion) and David Lee (strained right hamstring).
Coming off a 24-point loss at Phoenix, the Knicks demonstrated they
were going to be a whole lot more competitive in Oakland by
dominating the second quarter, flipping a 32-22 deficit into a 56-44
halftime lead.
After Warriors backup guard Jordan Crawford opened the second period
with a runner to boost Golden State's lead to 12, the Knicks
countered with 12 straight of their own. Reserve guards Iman
Shumpert and Pablo Prigioni accounted for half the points with a
3-pointer apiece.
The Warriors (45-28) gathered themselves go back up six with 5:18
left in the half, but New York surged again, finishing the second
period on a 22-4 run to take a 12-point halftime lead. Smith had 12
points, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the flurry.
"When you think about giving up 34 points in the second quarter and
33 in the second half ...," Jackson said. "That second quarter cost
us the game. Disappointing."
NOTES: Even after an MRI revealed no significant damage, Warriors C
Andrew Bogut (pelvic contusion) was ruled out of the club's two-game
Texas swing that tips off Tuesday in Dallas. ... PF David Lee
(strained right hamstring) missed the last two games of the
Warriors' just completed homestand. He will make the trip but
remains questionable. ... Golden State PG Stephen Curry had only one
assist against the Knicks, snapping a streak of having recorded four
or more assists in 81 consecutive games. ... When the Warriors face
the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, they will be playing their first
road game since March 16. ... The Knicks' game Monday at Utah
represents the only time they will face a team that is not a playoff
contender the rest of the regular season. ... The Knicks are now 4-0
this season when PF Amar'e Stoudemire (15 points, 13 rebounds)
records a double-double.
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