Warriors bullied by 3-pointers, rebounds in 38-point loss to Knicks
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Warriors bullied from deep, on glass in 38-point loss to Knicks originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
NEW YORK — Historically, the Warriors are known as the NBA’s jump-shooting team, especially from beyond the arc. New York basketball is all about grit, toughness and doing the dirty work. In the Warriors’ ugly 132-94 blowout loss Tuesday to the New York Knicks, a major difference-maker was Golden State going cold from deep.
What was more concerning was the Warriors’ lack of being able to defend the deep ball. The Knicks were letting it fly, and consistently with wide-open space.
“I thought we weren’t physical enough in the first half,” Steve Kerr said after the loss. “As a result, they were getting to loose balls and rebounds, offensive rebounds. A lot of their 3-point shots were really clean looks. … Overall, they shot the lights out and outrebounded us, took care of the ball, did everything better.”
Warriors center Kevon Looney agreed the Knicks’ physicality played a major part in the loss. The Knicks wound up grabbing 47 rebounds to the Warriors’ 29, including 14 offensive rebounds — 10 more than the Warriors.
By halftime, the Knicks already had eight more rebounds than the Warriors and five more offensive rebounds.
“A lot of them were second-chance points,” Looney said. “They got a lot of offensive rebounds, they’re one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA. That’s what we expected. We had to match their physicality to start, and I don’t think we did a good job of that.
“When you let guys get a rhythm early, it’s tough to turn the water off. That’s what it was.”
To Looney’s credit, the second-chance points certainly were eye-opening as well. The Knicks finished with 16, and the Warriors converted only six.
Entering Wednesday night’s slate of games, the Knicks were tied for 20th in the NBA in 3-pointers, making only 11.2 per game. By halftime they had already hit that mark, going 11-for-24 from long distance. On the other side, Warriors had been…
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