Warriors Beat Injuried Knicks, Keep Rolling Before Playoffs

Highlights

• Stephan Curry’s 31 points led the Golden State Warriors, who toppled the New York Knicks.
• Jonathan Kuminga’s 25 points showcased his growth, viable second option for Golden State.
• The Warriors aim to climb the West standings before the playoffs start.

Stephen Curry scored 31 points and knocked down eight three-pointers to lead the Golden State Warriors to a 110-99 win over the New York Knicks in his first game back at Madison Square Garden since becoming the NBA’s all-time leader in three-pointers made. While Curry torched the net with his hot shooting, Jonathan Kuminga punished the rim with his strong finishes at the basket to end up with 25 points on 12-of-19 shooting.

In contrast to his start a couple of nights ago against the Washington Wizards, where he went scoreless in the first half, Curry came out guns blazing against the Knicks. He drained three three-pointers within the first three minutes to lead a scorching 14-0 start for Golden State, who never trailed throughout the evening.

The short-handed Knicks, however, managed to keep within striking distance through the majority of the game. But each time they got close, the Warriors had an answer of their own just to keep New York, who was still missing three starters, at bay. The Knicks cut the Warriors lead, which went as high as 17 points, to as low as four with just over six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Curry, however, made a couple of dagger three-pointers within the final three minutes to put the game to bed and give Golden State its 31st win of the season and finish with an 11-3 record in February.

As for the Knicks, they continue to suffer from missing Julius Randle, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson, all of whom have been out for quite a while now due to injuries. Even Jalen Brunson was questionable heading into Thursday’s tilt, but he managed to suit up and lead his team with 27 points. New York capped off the month with a 4-8 record. The Knicks, however, don’t want to use injuries as an excuse for their recent slide.

“We’re not going to complain about injuries. Whenever you go through adversity, you got two choices. You got the first one to kind of face it head on. And don’t complain, just work. And then you have the other one that’s just go into a ball and complain and cry about it. So I don’t think that’s what anyone in this locker room is doing. And for us, it’s good to go out there and continue to get reps, but I’d rather the win.”-Josh Hart before Thursday’s game vs. GSW

Jonathan Kuminga with another strong performance

Is he becoming Curry’s co-star?

Madison Square Garden is usually the place where stars show out. And though it’s not as gaudy as some of the performances some of the NBA’s greatest stars had, including Curry, Jonathan Kuminga shined just as bright for Golden State on Thursday night. Kuminga finished with 25 points and eight rebounds and put on a dazzling and dominant performance on both ends of the floor. He was the perfect Robin to Curry’s Batman at MSG and the two showed out and combined for 56, over half, of Golden State’s 110 points.

He made several impact plays, not just with his force offensively, but with his tenacity and energy on defense as well. He particularly had a terrific defensive sequence in this possession pointed out by Anthony Slater of The Athletic, where he kept in step and spiked Jalen Brunson’s layup attempt to the stands and subsequently secured a high-sky defensive rebound over Josh Hart and made a perfect outlet pass to Curry for the triple.

Kuminga’s development this season is certainly not going unnoticed. Draymond Green, one of the catalysts of Golden State’s recent surge, suggested that the budding 21-year-old is a huge reason they are going through this hot stretch right now.

“[Jonathan Kuminga] is a star. He’ll be an All-Star in this league for a long time. He’s playing with confidence, he’s playing with force on both ends of the floor and that’s what he’s going to be great at… It’s been great to see his growth. A lot of people are talking about me coming back in the lineup and that’s why we’re winning. But I think we’re winning because of the growth of Jonathan Kuminga.” – Draymond Green on Jonathan Kuminga’s impact for the Warriors.

Warriors still stuck at 10th in the West standings

Can they catch up to 6th?

Despite the win, the Warriors are still stuck at 10th in the Western Conference standings. But they are slowly gaining some ground with the 6th seed, where they find themselves just three games behind the New Orleans Pelicans.

Still, with 24 games remaining in the season, time could be thin for the Warriors to catch up. Several teams like the surging Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are still between them, and even they are fighting for outright playoff berths.

The Warriors have so far gone 2-0 on this East Coast road trip. Golden State heads up north of the border to take on the Toronto Raptors for the second night of a back-to-back. With the Dubs needing to rack up wins, the 35-year-old Curry has no intention of sitting out.

After Toronto, the Warriors finish up their road trip in Bean Town, where they take on the league’s No. 1 team, the Boston Celtics, for what should be a terrific 2022 NBA Finals rematch.