Bring on the Big 10 Tournament!
The Knicks stayed with Golden State for a half before the Warriors hit their usual third-quarter championship stride and made the Knicks disappear from the Garden.
With a 39-18 third-quarter onslaught, the Warriors erased a one-point halftime deficit to drill the Knicks 125-111 Monday night before a celebrity-laden Garden crowd that also featured a flock of loud Warriors’ supporters.
“They try to wear you down,’’ said Tim Hardaway Jr., who had a stinker of a night with 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting. “When they see daylight and opportunity to run the break, they get easy baskets. They do a great job of capitalizing whether you’re playing great defense or not.’’
On the five-year anniversary of his 54-point game at the Garden, Stephen Curry led the third-quarter splurge with 14 of his 21 points. Kevin Durant poured in 22 points as the Warriors beat the Knicks for the eighth straight time.
Known as third-quarter dynamos, this was the eighth time the Warriors have outscored an opponent by 20-plus points in the third period.
“They lead the league in third-quarter points so you got to be engaged against the Warriors,’’ said Emmanuel Mudiay, who scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half. “They have four All-Stars. They know how to pick teams part. At the same time, we were in the game and our energy level went down in the third.’’
Klay Thompson, a free agent in 2019 when the Knicks will have cap space, led the Warriors with 26 points. Golden State heads to Washington where the Warriors are passing on a White House championship ceremony and will just play the Wizards.
With 20 games left, the lottery-bound Knicks (24-38) will avoid the Garden for nearly two weeks as they head to the West Coast for a four-game trip while the Big 10 and Big East tournaments take over the arena.
New York fans can see some potential mid-lottery picks such as Miles Bridges of Michigan State and Mikal Bridges of Villanova.
“The first half we moved the ball around, we came off screens hard and we were looking for the open guy,” coach Jeff Hornacek said. “In the third quarter, it was how can I score? It showed until five minutes left in the game, we had only three assists in the second half.’’
It was a particularly awful night for Michael Beasley, who has started in place of Kristaps Porzingis. In 25 minutes, he scored two points on 1-of-7 shooting. He also received five stitches above his eye after taking an elbow from Green.
Mudiay, after two straight poor-shooting outings, led the Knicks’ troika of young point guards and gave the Warriors an early scare. Mudiay hadn’t made a 3-pointer since becoming a Knick until he buried three early 3s in the first quarter. Of course, the Warriors were disengaged defensively in the first half and allowed the Knicks 32 points in the paint.
“I was determined to have a better game, trying to figure out the system,’’ Mudiay said. “Get shots off, get people involved and go out there with an aggressive mentality. Making shots help.’’
Still, defensively all the point guards needed work versus the Warriors’ flash. Trey Burke notched 18 points and Frank Ntilikina added 13 but Hornacek wasn’t offering any praise.
“They all had good stat lines tonight on the offensive side,’’ Hornacek said. “It’s going to be an emphasis on the defensive side, especially if I play them together. One has to play the two spot and it’s a little different. They are going to learn those things and they are going to have to fight.”
The third-quarter slaughter began with an 11-0 spree that included 3-pointers in succession by Draymond Green (10 points, six assists), Curry and Thompson to make a 64-63 deficit 72-64 Golden State.
That was just the start. Javale McGee, the Warriors’ new starting center, scored on a tip-in, Green found Thompson for a corner 3 and it was 79-66 four minutes into the second half.
Curry banged in a 3-pointer to make it 27-9 run and a 90-73 advantage. Then his four-point play with 1:37 left in the third gave Golden State a 99-79 lead.
“I still don’t have an answer about the third quarters except we wear teams down,’’ Curry said. “It is winning time.’’
When the night was young, Mudiay was on a mission and racked up 13 points in the game’s first 5:30. He made five of his first six shots — hitting three 3-pointers.
He finished the second quarter with a dish to Lance Thomas for a corner 3 at the halftime buzzer that put the Knicks in front 64-63.
The Knicks don’t play again until facing the Clippers in Los Angeles on Friday but will leave early and practice at UCLA. As for the Warriors visiting DC but not President Trump, Curry said, “It’s a business trip.’’