A season-long trend in Golden State continues. The Warriors once again avoided losing three games in a row, this time thanks to a 114-106 win against the Knicks in New York on Tuesday night.
Of course, they haven’t won three games in a row, either, leading to a 17-15 record on the campaign. Star guard Stephen Curry led the way against the Knicks with 37 points, six rebounds, six assists, two steals and just one turnover, and he summed up team’s up and down ways after the win, per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle.
Yup, that’s well said from Curry. The team is resilient thanks to championship-level leadership from Curry, coach Steve Kerr, Draymond Green, Kevon Looney and also the injured Klay Thompson, among others. That leadership has been relied upon as Kerr tries to get a new group of players to get used to his motion offense.
The results haven’t come to fruition just yet. Though the Warriors are among the top-5 NBA teams in defensive rating, which also helps the team remain steady in the standings.
But a winning streak became even harder to attain after Kerr lost centers Looney and James Wiseman to injury, leaving Golden State play small-ball, with Green playing in the middle, for 11 games. Both big-men returned in the win against the Knicks and contributed greatly, with Looney thriving with the starters and Wiseman providing 14 points off the bench in 16 minutes on 6-for-9 shooting.
And Wiseman, the talented No. 2 overall pick in this year’s draft, can only learn — as Curry requested — if he’s healthy and in the game. It appears he learned how to get an easy bucket slipping a screen on Curry’s man, per this video from Anthony Slater of The Athletic.
Curry can see the possibilities, with the resilience that’s already been displayed and the talent around him, notably Wiseman as well as and starting five, which had a fantastic game against the Knicks. Kerr must figure that if the Warriors have faced the worst of their injury issues, his team is close to turning a corner and finally build momentum.
Here are some more key stats to a big road win. Golden State will face the Pacers on Wednesday to complete back-to-back games on the road and go for its second-straight victory.
(Photo credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports)
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