The Knicks hung with the defending champs for a half, but the Golden State Warriors dominated the second half as New York loses second straight.
- New York Knicks 111 (24-38)
- Golden State Warriors 125 (47-14)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
At the half, the New York Knicks held a 64-63 lead on the Golden State Warriors and the Garden was abuzz. The trio of Emmanuel Mudiay, Frank Ntilikina and Trey Burke were showing their potential and hanging with the Warriors backcourt. Mudiay scored 15 first-half points on 7-for-9 shooting while dishing out five assists. He finished with 20 points and seven assists. Burke added in 18 points and five assists, while Ntilikina chipped in with 13 points and five rebounds.
The young core was competing with the best team in the NBA, but trying to beat the Warriors is like climbing a mountain and sometimes that avalanche comes. In this game, that avalanche came in the third quarter. The Warriors opened up on a 20-4 run and ultimately outscored the Knicks 39-18.
This got out of hand quickly, but that’s to be expected with this young group and especially against the defending champs. The shot selection in the third period was pretty poor and the defense was nowhere to be found.
But at this point, the macro-view is more important than the micro-view. In other words, think about the big picture. For one, a loss isn’t a bad thing for the Knicks and it helps them position themselves for the lottery. This is going to be a theme for the rest of the season.
Add in the fact that New York actually hung around with Golden State for a half, and this loss is beginning to look better and better. All three members of the point guard triad got to play 25+ minutes. Isaiah Hicks got a chance to play 12 minutes, which may not seem meaningful, but any look the front office can get can be a good thing.
It looks like Troy Williams has played his way into a second 10-day contract with the Knicks. His current contract will expire by the end of the week, but he’s showcased enough athleticism to warrant at the very least a longer look.
Courtney Lee and Jarrett Jack are getting hurt by the decision to develop the younger players, but they are taking it like pros. Jack because he’s completely taking a backseat mentorship role with the younger point guards. Lee because he is having the best year of his career and he’s going to be taking a big hit to his minutes in favor of the youth. He played only 11 minutes tonight. You can say the same for Enes Kanter only playing 17 minutes, but that is likely more to do with the fact that Kanter gets routinely shredded by the Warriors.
Bottomline, this is another step towards the future. Compete, develop, but ultimately losing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Knicks set out on a west coast road trip in Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Friday.
.@emmanuelmudiay has caught fire in Q1.
14p (3-4 3-PT) pic.twitter.com/OPWOCMZ0Jm
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2018
We’re up 5 in Q2 ? pic.twitter.com/f3ugOmKyPc
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2018
.@emmanuelmudiay with the midrange game ? pic.twitter.com/EtJ0S13SzS
— NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) February 27, 2018
