After earning his first win as an NBA coach on Tuesday, Mark Jackson and his Golden State Warriors host their third straight game at Oracle Arena as Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire and the New York Knicks look to start the year with consecutive wins for the first time since 1999.
New York dropped the Boston Celtics on Christmas night 106-104, and roll into Oracle as the W's won't be at 100% with Stephen Curry more than likely sitting this game out with his sore right ankle. Nevertheless, the Knicks don't usually thrive in Oakland, losing eight straight games there before squeaking out a 125-119 win there last November despite the 40 points scored by Monta Ellis. Carmelo was still with Denver during that game.
With Curry out and the size that New York possesses, the W's will have a tough task tonight. They will have to get some great play out of their bigs against Amare and newly acquired shot blocker Tyson Chandler, with former Knick David Lee likely having a busy night (Lee dropped 28 and 10 on the Knicks last year), and should be a good test for guys like Kwame Brown and Andris Beidrins, as well as how their defense holds up against Gotham's dynamic duo.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT with coverage on NBA TV and KNBR 680 AM.
For more on the Warriors, head over to Golden State of Mind.