The Warriors certainly have a flair for the dramatic with multiple nail biting victories and tonight was no different...sort of. Down 18 points throughout most the third quarter, the Warriors in the fourth quarter -- with Amar'e Stoudemire resting on the sidelines -- began their run, cutting the lead to 9 behind the scoring of Stephen Curry.
Midway through the fourth, Reggie Williams scored 13 of his 15 points in the fourth, hitting 2 three pointers to cut the lead to 5. In a strange turn of events, the Warriors and Knicks seem to flip the script, even though the narrative to the game was reminiscent of their previous meeting at the Madison Squard Garden where the Warriors squandered a 19 point lead.
A shootout towards Reggie Williams and Danillo Gallinari (11 points, 3 3-pointers) along with Raymond Felton's incredible 32 point, 11 assist effort (13-17 shooting) and Amar'e Stoudemire's complete domination of the Warriors front court (26 points on 10-12 shooting) proved to be too much for Monta Ellis' 40 point effort. Gallinari finished with 23 points.
The Warriors led early in the first. But the Knicks never looked back after taking the lead towards the end of the first, consistently shooting over 50% from the field and 44% from 3-point land. The free throw disparity doomed the Warriors as the Knicks shot 90% from the free throw line, making 15 more free throws.
Dorell Wright chipped in 16 points, but did not make a single shot from three-point territory. With the Warriors size disadvantage, Wright ended up defending Stoudemire for most the second half. In spite of Wright stepping up to the challenge, the size disadvantage made the match-up pretty uneven.
But it seemed that no matter how the Warriors defended the Knicks, running at shooters, hands in their face, or even fouling them as they were shooting, the Knicks couldn't miss. The confidence building first quarter where the Knicks shot over 65% from the field seemed to seal the deal.