Warriors grind past Knicks as Steph Curry sets record

The story coming into the Tuesday’s game between the Golden State Warriors and New York Knicks revolved around Steph Curry, who needed just two made triples to pass Ray Allen and become the NBA’s all-time leader in threes made.

It took the MVP favorite less than five minutes to make history.

But while Curry was the headline before, during, and after the game, Steve Kerr spoke a truth at halftime when interview by the TNT broadcast. Asked what he wanted the momentous game to remembered for, the Warriors coach replied with, “a win.”

The message was simple: yes, Curry might have made the type of history that stopped a game, put a road crowd on its feet, and led to a few tears from Steph himself, but the Warriors still have a greater mission. There are games to win, and championships to face.

And so they set to work against New York.

Things were stacked against the Dubs from the start. The Warriors had played the night before, resulting in the daunting road back-to-back, but worst of all had been stranded in Indiana due to mechanical problems with their plane. Golden State couldn’t fly to the Big Apple until Tuesday morning, which was surely a throwback to high school for the players.

It showed in a somewhat sluggish start, Curry’s historical moment notwithstanding. The Dubs mustered only 24 points in the first quarter and 23 in the second, but a strong defensive effort left them down by just a single point at halftime.

And you know the drill from here: the third quarter happened. It wasn’t a dominant quarter, but it was a very good one, with Golden State holding New York to just 16 points in the frame. Initially their own offense struggled as well, but a late surge in the quarter led to a seven-point lead heading into the final frame.

From there they cruised home. Both teams found their offense in the fourth, but the Dubs never let the Knicks get too close, and eventually won 105-96.

Despite the record, Curry again had a modest night, scoring 22 points on 8-for-19 shooting, and going 5-for-14 from beyond the arc. Draymond Green again was everywhere, registering 8 points, 11 rebounds, 7 assists, and 4 blocks, and Nemanja Bjelica went a perfect 5-for-5 (including 4-for-4 from deep) off the bench.

The Warriors improved to an NBA-best 23-5, and will now finally get some much-needed time off, with two rest days and a very short trip before facing the Boston Celtics Friday night.

Tune into the post-game Twitch with Marc Delucchi: