Warriors 114, Knicks 102: Been there, done that
What’s old — the Warriors rampaging — is new again. Is what’s new — the Knicks dominating — already getting old?
I’ve collected rocks, gemstones and fossils for a few years. Got some pretty cool pieces. A megalodon tooth, fully intact. A tyrannosaurus rex tooth (partial – a fully intact T-rex tooth is $20K i don’t have). A piece from the moon. Even one from Mars. One of my favorites is a zircon from the Jack Hills in Australia, home to the oldest rocks on planet Earth.
This little guy was born in the Hadean era more than four billion years ago, before the moon existed. Hard to imagine, isn’t it? A time so long ago the Earth was around, but not the moon?
Steph Curry turns 37 later this month – young for a civilian (says this 46-year-old), but practically Hadean by NBA standards (comparatively, LeBron James must date back to the Big Bang). Golden State’s four-time title-leading talisman has been raining down death via the 3-ball for 16 years now, long before the rest of the league got on board with 3 > 2. Last night he made one fewer three than the Knicks’ starting five in spearheading a 20-point second-half swing, turning an eight-point deficit at the half into a 12-point win, their seventh win in eight tries.
That isn’t just a testament to Golden State dancing with the date they brought; it also raises questions about what direction the Knick offense is taking. Over the past two months the Knicks have taken the second-fewest threes in the league and been bottom-third as far as accuracy. KAT missed last night’s game for personal reasons. Obviously those are huge shoes to fill offensively; you might expect the Knicks to launch even more from deep to try and make up for Towns’ absence. OG Anunoby did what the could, continuing his recent renaissance with 29 points on 4-of-9 from deep, but the rest of the Knicks combined were just 4-of-24 on threes.
Some of that stemmed from Golden State’s second-half defense, when they made a concerted effort to keep Jalen Brunson from initiating New York’s offense. Swapping Julius Randle for Towns helped the Knicks’ size, shooting and rebounding, and swapping out Donte DiVincenzo for Mikal Bridges means more size, more length and more defense, but outside of Brunson the team isn’t blessed with a ton of playmaking or self-creation. So when KAT’s unavailable and Brunson is swamped, they’re a sausage-fest of finishers. Anunoby, Miles McBride, Landry Shamet: all perfectly cromulent catch-and-shoot artists from three; all mid at best creating for themselves.
Squint and you can see glimpses of the early Curry teams in these Knickerbockers: both are led on the court by undersized but lionhearted guards who grow bigger come crunch time; both feature historical anomalies at center; the Warriors sprung their Death Lineup on teams in the playoffs, while the Knicks could be waiting for the postseason to spring their Towns and Mitchell Robinson Twin Towers look; both teams are coached by men who had success winning games with the Chicago Bulls, marking both nearly as old as my Jack Hills zircon.
But “old” isn’t inherently an insult, despite what capitalism is selling and especially in a world where so much of what’s new is so awful. The Warriors were remarkably consistent their first five years under Steve Kerr, ranking top-three from the 2014-15 season through 2018-2019 in offensive rating and top-five in defensive rating those first three seasons. The dynastic teams never finished outside the top-half defensively; even the 2021-22 champs, while only 17th in offensive rating, finished tops on the other end.
There are meaningful consistencies besides how well you score or stop people from scoring. There are routines to establish; a culture to build; grindstones to put noses to. Undoubtedly under Leon Rose and Tom Thibodeau, the Knicks are consistent in all kinds of encouraging ways they weren’t for a long time before. But can they establish a continuity that approaches what the Warriors built? Thibs’ first year in New York, the team was 23rd in offensive rating and third in defensive rating. Since acquiring Brunson, the offense was third and seventh, now currently sitting at fourth; over those same years the defense has flip-flopped from 19th to 10th back to 19th today.
Last night’s loss was disappointing, but not an upset. The Knicks were without Towns. The Warriors have added Jimmy Butler and taken off since they did. It’ll be interesting to see that endgame unfold, assuming Butler stays consistent to the player and behavioral pattern we’ve witnessed ever since he left he and Thibodeau’s first team for he and Thibodeau’s second. Much like 2023, when New York had the fifth seed sewn up long before the playoffs started, the 2025 team doesn’t seem likely to pass Boston for second, and should be able to keep Milwaukee and Indiana safely away from the third seed. In the great scheme of things, losing to Golden State hardly matters at all.
Still, one hopes the Knicks took a bit of a longer look than usual at the road team that walked off the floor as winners. What can Brunson take from Curry’s decade and a half of ethos and adaptability? Did anyone note the relentless drive of players like Butler and Draymond Green and wonder whether they demand as much of themselves? Three Knicks – Bridges, OG and Josh Hart – are averaging more minutes than Curry has in any season since he was 24. Thibodeau has played the starters a bit less since Mitch’s return, but what happens if they lose a couple in a row? Does he hear the siren call telling him to hell with tomorrow; today’s game is all there is to win? If so, does he heed it?
No time like the present to find out. The Knicks now embark on a five-game Western swing against the resurgent, resplendent Lakers, the weird but well-coached Clippers, a Kings team that’s been hot as hell since Doug Christie took over and a Trail Blazers side that’s turned its season around by winning 15 of 21 games before closing with a visit to the Warriors. Maybe Towns is back for that one and Mitch is closer to “Mitch!”, and if so maybe the Knicks get back to looking more like the version of themselves that started 24-10 and less the one that’s cooled off since to the tune of 16-11. Whatever comes next will mark a change of some sort, and really what else is life? If even the moon isn’t a constant, how much can one rightly ask of a basketball team?
