Final Boxscore
I don't know how you do it either Jax
Wow. I guess this is just how it has to be. No easy wins. They make you yell at the tv in frustration but also scream in celebration as they roll off one of their runs. Sometimes I think I should just avoid watching the first 3 quarters so my blood pressure doesn't go through the roof. And it seems that no matter what happens in those first 3 quarters, it doesn't affect the 4th. The Warriors could be playing horribly through 36 minutes but come out in the 4th and just light it up. Tonight, the Warriors stepped it up in the 4th and take the win right from the Knicks' grasp. Your recap after the jump.
Andris Biedrins, Rebounding Machine
I have to start this recap off by congratulating Beans on his tremendous performance. 26 rebounds! He had 10 in the first quarter alone! He now owns this year's NBA season high for rebounds in a single game. I just can't get over how many rebounds he had. He was just all over the glass tonight. He constantly fought for position in the paint, tipped rebounds to himself, and just outhustled many of the Knick and Warrior players. If not for Beans tonight, the Knicks blow out the Warriors because they would have got killed on the glass.
Even though he didn't get a blocked shot tonight, I thought Biedrins did a good job of challenging shots in the paint forcing misses while staying out of foul trouble. He picked up just 4 fouls in 41 minutes despite having to come over and challenge every drive in the lane.
Some Rebounding Help Please?
On the other hand, my goodness, can somebody help Beans in the paint? Or can we get some help for him? When Beans wasn't grabbing a rebound it seemed like one of the Knicks was. They're a scrappy team when only one of Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph are in the game. Throwing out the Mardy Collins/ Quentin Richardson, Jamal Crawford, David Lee, Renaldo Balkman, and Zach Randolph lineup really seemed to give the Warriors problems. When they do that, they're big at all the positions. Not necessarily the most talented offensively, but they scrap, hustle, and go after rebounds and loose balls. Much of their damage came in the 2nd quarter when Biedrins would go to help on defense and the rest of the team either couldn't box out or simply were outmuscled and thus outrebounded. A second big man would have sure helped stop the run that the Knicks made in that 2nd quarter. Maybe signing CWebb will help the rebounding situation.
Stephen Jack and the 4th Quarter
Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. He stinks it up in the first 3 quarters with his poor handle (5 TO's), shot that gets easily blocked (3 times), and poor shooting, 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from 3. Then the 4th quarter started and he decided to shoot the Warriors in the arm with a little adrenaline. All in the span of a few minutes, he literally brought the Warriors back from being down 4 with 10:28 to play, to being up 3 with 8:19 to play. First he took Crawford to the hole for a layup and then the basket got really really wide. He hit 3 straight 3's out of nowhere and just lit the arena on fire. I don't know how he just does it. He represents exactly what the Warriors are though. Play poorly for 3 quarters but when that 4th quarter hits and the stars come out to shine, Jax shows up.
Questionable coaching decisions...
The Krispy Kreme Twins
Throughout the 2nd and 3rd quarters, Randolph and Curry barely played on the floor together mainly because Curry was sitting on the bench. In those two quarters, the Knicks beat the Warriors by a total of 12 points. So what does the wonderful coach of the Knicks do in the 4th? He plays them together for the first 6 minutes. Then what do the Warriors do? Simply outscore the Knicks by 9 points to take a 6 point lead. Maybe this is why the "Fire Isaiah" chants started - poor coaching decisions.
New York Hustle
I gotta give props to Lee, Balkman, and Robinson tonight. They seemed to be all over the place for the Knicks. Lee had 13 boards in 23 minutes. Balkman picked up 2 steals, 3 blocks, and some excellent D on Baron and whoever else he was matched up with. You have to know where these two are at all times when the shot goes up because they just go after the rebounds, either grabbing it themselves or tipping it to teammates. I just don't understand why these two don't get more playing time. If these two were allowed to develop on the court, you might have two solid role players. Robinson has been playing and he's playing well. He dropped 22 tonight adding in 8 assists. At times he made some ridiculous layups and ran the team well. These three young guys all look solid and once again prove that Isaiah can draft - he just can't do much else that well - including coaching.
DRIVE!
DRIVE!
DRIVE!
Drive! Drive! Drive!
These 3's are killing me - 3-22 at the end of the 3rd quarter. On two pointers, they were shooting around 54%. Jax got hot in the 4th, but perhaps the Warriors don't have a 3 point deficit if they don't shoot so much from beyond the arc. What compounds my frustration is that the Knicks are not a good defensive team, in fact they're one of the worst. Check it out:
- Opposing teams shoot 48% against them
- Randolph has 6 blocks - on the entire year.
- Eddy Curry averages 0.5 blocks per game.
They're not going to block shots so attack the rim against these guys! C'mon. Drive and shoot, drive and dump to Beans or drive and kick. Too many three's and not enough aggressiveness. They got lucky tonight and got away with being way off on their three's tonight.
Looking Forward
The Warriors have played well enough over the last stretch going 8-3 in their last 11 games. They have a favorable February coming so this hot streak can continue. But it will start with a tough quick road trip, first on Tuesday at Houston and then at New Orleans on Wednesday. With things being so tight in the West, being 9 games over .500 doesn't even give them a solid cushion over the 9th and 10th teams in the West.
Andris Biedrins
In addition to his 26 rebounds, throw in the 11 points on 4-6 shooting and he's got himself another double double.