While nursing his shoulder injury on the Warriors’ bench vs. the Knicks on Tuesday, Steph Curry took the opportunity to coach up teammate Jordan Poole.
The Warriors hit the big stage of Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, but their show, without All-Stars Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins, failed to captivate the audience.
Trailing from the opening tip and never mounting much of a threat to the Knicks, Golden State took a 132-94 loss that sent its road record spiraling to an NBA-worst 3-15.
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Jordan Poole supplied most of the offense, finishing with a game-high 26 points. Jonathan Kuminga added 13 off the bench, while Klay Thompson, Moses Moody and Ty Jerome each added 11.
Here are three observations from a game in which Golden State’s defense barely breathed on the Knicks and its offense, with only 23 assists, never found anything resembling the preferred rhythm and flow:
Death by turnover
It’s an old song, and all too familiar to the Warriors.
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Empty possessions have crushed them many times before, and they did so again on this night. The Warriors committed 20 turnovers, off which the Knicks scored 36 freebie points.
Thompson led the way with five giveaways, followed by Poole with four and Kuminga with three.
Inasmuch as the Warriors were outshot from deep, were at a 32-13 free-throw disadvantage and clobbered on the glass (47-29), the plethora of turnovers gave New York a whopping 87-74 advantage in field-goal attempts.
On this night, it robbed the Warriors of a chance to compete.
This is a subject that often comes up with the Warriors – and will continue to come up until the year comes with the worst of their longtime bad habits finally is broken.
Awaiting the spectacle
The Warriors are waiting for Curry, who has missed the last three games with a left shoulder injury. They’re also waiting for Wiggins, who has missed the last seven games with a right adductor tightness.
They’re waiting for Thompson, too – and he has played in each of the last three games.
With Curry out of action, it’s incumbent on Thompson – the best available shooter – to provide some of the missing offense. Thus far, nada. His 11 points came on 5-of-11 shooting, including 1-of-5 from distance. He also committed five turnovers in 25 minutes.
Such relatively paltry production from the five-time All-Star dramatically increases the scoring burden on Poole, who is pulling his end of the rope. Klay is averaging 13.3 points in the three games since Curry went out.
Thompson, who is playing through some knee soreness, will at some point break out with a spectacular shooting exhibition. Meanwhile, the offense is suffering a severe case of anemia.
Soft at the arc
Forgive the Golden State scouting report if it did not emphasize 3-point defense against the Knicks. Why would it when New York entered the game shooting 32.8 percent from deep, ranking 26th among the league’s 30 teams?
The Warriors’ apparent indifference was costly, as New York exploited numerous open looks from beyond the arc, scoring 51 of its 132 points while shooting 42.5 percent. The Knicks were particularly accurate in the first half, generating enough momentum to take command by firing triples at a rate of 45.8 percent.
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The Warriors adjusted their defense midway through the second quarter, mixing in more zone along with their usual chasing and switching. That barely seemed to help.
The Warriors probably didn’t expect such a flurry of triples from a team that usually shoots blanks, but it was a major difference-maker.