|
|
Kevin Durant takes over 4th quarter, Warriors beat Knicks 128-100: Knicks vs Warriors Game Recap
By InsideHoops.comOctober 27, 2018
| SHARE |
The Warriors entered Madison Square Garden a big favorite against the New York Knicks on Friday. Many looking ahead towards the matchup felt that if the young Knicks, still playing without injured Kristaps Porzingis and also without talented rookie Kevin Knox, under a new head coach, a new system, with an eye more towards the future than the present, were to simply stay competitive for most of this game that it would be a solid moral victory for the young squad.Then, as gametime approached, it was revealed that new head coach David Fizdale was changing the starting lineup. The home team gave starting nods to Frank Ntilikina, Tim Hardaway Jr., Mitchell Robinson, Damyean Dotson and Noah Vonleh, a very young lineup, against the most powerful team in the league.
So, yes, for the home squad, simply staying competitive would be great. Especially after a glance at recent Warriors game results: an easy 23-point win over the Suns followed by a 22-point win over the Wizards that featured a 51-point performance from Stephen Curry.
After one quarter, the Warriors and Knicks were tied at 25. Curry had 13 points, Hardaway Jr. nine, Kevin Durant six, Vonleh five. The Warriors were shooting 58.5%, the Knicks just 36%, but New York hit the offensive boards and took eight more shots.
In the second quarter, Klay Thompson continued to do what he's done much of this short season -- miss shots. He hasn't found his jumpshot yet in 2018-19. It lurks around the corner but hasn't been quite there yet. It'll show up soon. But in this content so far he was 3-for-9.
Very few free throws were being shot. Who that favors is unclear, but the game was still close.
Several Warriors scored on Enes Kanter in a series of plays. It happens. With around five minutes left in the first half, the Warriors were up seven.
Durant on a fast break is a scary thing. He was now 6-for-7 with his team up 12. And it seemed like the Warriors were ready to pull away.
Then Hardaway Jr went down after landing wrong on an ankle. But he was able to walk it off, fortunately. And the home team rallied after that.
At halftime, the contest was once again a tie, at 53 all. Durant now had 16 points, Hardaway Jr. and Curry 14, Ntilikina 13, Klay 13 (but on 13 shots). Kanter has eight rebounds. Rebounds: Knicks 26, Warriors 17. Bench scoring: Knicks 16, Warriors six.
Ashanti, who already sang the Star Spangled Banner, now performed the halftime show. She, too, was competitive.
The story was largely the same in the third quarter. Namely, that this thing was close. Even as Curry did his thing in the third, quickly unleashing a serious of buckets, showing the world what we all know he's able to do. Steph suddenly had 22 points, with Hardaway Jr. at 21, Ntilikina 17 and Durant 16.
New York hustle was a thing in this. Offensive rebounds, mid third quarter: Knicks nine, Warriors 1.
And at the end of three, the Knicks were up three.
But then came Durant unleashed destruction, totally took over the 4th quarter, and completely changed this game.
It was a blur. But when the dust settled, Durant had 25 points in the 4th alone, and suddenly a nicely-even battle became a blowout. The Warriors outscored the Knicks 47-16 in the 4th. Heck, Durant outscored the Knicks 25-16 in the 4th.
The result, a 28-point Warriors win, final score 125-100. Durant finished with 41 points, 17-24 FG, 5-9 threes, plus nine rebounds and five assists. Curry shot 10-18 and 6-11 threes for 29 points and not too much else. Draymond Green shot 7-of-8 for 18 points, four rebounds, six assists and three steals.
For the Knicks, Hardaway Jr. scored 24 but on 21 shots, Ntilikina scored 17 but only dished two assists, and Trey Burke, now coming off the bench, added 15 points. Kanter off the bench grabbed 13 rebounds.
It was a good game, and an incredible KD takeover.
We'll be posting quotes and interviews from both teams later Saturday, and have interviews from both teams from beyond this game that will go up soon.