A fantastic first turned out to be fool’s gold for the New York Knicks.
The Jalen Brunson-less Knicks solved their first period woes in the latter half of a California couple but couldn’t sustain the momentum in what became a 126-113 loss at Chase Center on Thursday night.
The loss at the exact halfway mark of the regular season dropped the Knicks (25-16) to 1-3 in their recent quartet on the road and 2-7 in their past nine.
With Brunson out due to an ankle injury endured on Wednesday in Sacramento, New York wasted a strong shooting night from Mikal Bridges (21 on 9-of-11, albeit on only one try in the fourth) that was no match for a second half surge from Stephen Curry. OG Anunoby and Miles McBride had 25 points each while Towns paired 17 with a season-high 20 boards.
Scoring but 17 in Wednesday’s opening dozen set the tone for a dreary evening against the Kings. The Knicks took advantage of an immediate chance at redemption by building a 31-14 lead with six three-pointers after hitting just one in the state capital.
Golden State, however, took advantage of two earlyTowns fouls and narrowed the gap to five by the end of the period. They stole the lead just beyond the midway mark and the Knicks were able to withstand it for a while before a lasting advantage was created on a three from Brandin Podziemski.
A 13-2 run that broke a brief tie early in the third, punctuated by threes from Curry and Moses Moody, put the scoreboard in the Warriors corner eternally. After he was kept off the three-point score chart during the first half, Curry sank 4-of-5 in the latter 24, keeping the San Francisco beat ahead by double figures for a good bit.
From that point forward, New York never got closer than seven despite some emphatic infiltration from Anunoby and outside prowess from Bridges and McBride. Despite the usual clutch Curry effort, he was somewhat usurped by Moody, who hit 7-of-9 on a night where 20 Golden triples fell through. Equally effective was Podziemski (8-of-9 off the bench for 19 points) while Jimmy Butler led all participants with 32.
Faced with trade rumors around 2021 lottery pick Jonathan Kuminga and the early injury exit of Gui Santos, the Warriors (23-19) improved to 5-3 in the new year and have on four of their last five. They’ll make their annual visit to Madison Square Garden on March 15 in a nationally-televised tilt.
In the meantime, the Knicks will come home on Saturday for a weekend showdown with the Phoenix Suns at Madison Square Garden (7:30 p.m. ET, MSG/NBA TV).
