Call me a spoil sport, call me a party pooper, but last night’s Steph Curry love fest at the Garden just hammered home how long it’s been since the Knicks have won anything and how some tough luck was staring them in the face while wearing the opposing uniform.
Congratulations to Steph Curry on setting the all-time, three-point record. “Greatest shooter of all time” is certainly applicable but the bottom line for the local fans is that he doesn’t play for the Knicks. However, he loved doing it at the Garden, the Mecca, so Knick fans should be thankful?
The circular building on 33rd street and 8th avenue is still referred to as the Mecca, but for who. Certainly, not the home team. Since the Knicks were 31-10 at the Garden in the 2012-2013 season, including this season, they are 135-196.
All you heard during the TNT broadcast was how players like Reggie Miller loved playing at the Garden. Yeah, Reggie, we remember those great moments you had. All those players love playing the Garden but never wanted to come here to play for the home team.
As a person who has followed the Knicks for over 55 years, I’m getting tired of seeing “His-Toe-Ree” (as Warden Hazen called it in the original “The Longest Yard”) made at their expense.
Curry set the mark with 7:33 left in the first quarter. The game was stopped to acknowledge the historic bucket. I understand the significance. Acknowledge it, yes, but did we need all that pageantry. It wasn’t like a player on the home team was setting that mark. I thought they would start giving him gifts.
I totally get the respect that Curry has from his peers. “History was made, of course we were trying to stop that. He’s such an elite shooter, it’s kinda dope to be a part of that,” Derrick Rose said after the game. “He ended up breaking it in the Garden. On the biggest stage, it was meant to be.”
It wasn’t meant to be that Curry would ever wear a Knicks uniform.
In the 2009 NBA Draft, the Warriors selected Curry with the 7th overall pick, one spot ahead of the Knicks, who had their eye on him as soon as he became eligible.
The Knicks took Jordan Hill and the rest is…….heck, you get the idea.
No one really knows what path Curry’s career would’ve taken had he become a Knick but you have to figure they would be better off than they have been since the ‘09 Draft and better off now.
Every time Curry steps on the Garden court, it’s a reminder of “What if.”
The Warriors got to New York Tuesday morning after they were delayed after the win in Indiana last night. They could’ve gotten to the arena 30 minutes before the scheduled tip off and the Knicks still would not have beaten them.
Curry led the Warriors with a modest 22 points as the Knicks lost to Golden State, 106-95. The Knicks have lost four in a row and since their 5-1 start, they are 7-15.
Golden State dominated the game in two key categories. They out rebounded the Knicks by a 49-35 margin and had a 38-24 advantage in points in the paint.
The Knicks made it a competitive game in the first half and had a one point lead at halftime, but it was just a matter of time before the team with the second best record in the NBA would pull away. Not that it would’ve mattered, but the Knicks were missing R.J. Barrett, Obi Toppin and Quentin Grimes.
In the third quarter, Curry didn’t even score until there was less than 90 seconds left. Golden State got contributions from Jordan Poole who scored 7 of his 19 points in the third quarter and Nemanja Bjelica who was 4 for 4 from three and scored 14 points off the bench as the Warriors took a 71-64 lead into the fourth quarter.
Julius Randle led all scorers with 31 points and continues to play hard but the offense seems to stall when he’s handling the ball too much. Last season’s team MVP continues to turn the ball over, four more in this one.
“It’s a struggle. We’re down a couple of guys. Not playing good basketball so it’s tough but this is what we all signed up for,” Randle said after another frustrating night.
Rose started and scored 15 points but shot 5 of 13 and was a -10. Kevin Knox got 20 minutes of playing time and scored 9 points with 7 rebounds.
Rookie Miles McBride (aka Deuce) was a pleasant surprise as he played a season high 20 minutes, scored 8 points and brought some defensive intensity to the floor. The first year point guard was the only Knick who was in the plus column (+4) on the night. “Deuce is a good player, a young player. His confidence is very high, his defense is top tier and he just needs the time,” Rose said.
Randle continues to feel confident that the Knicks will turn things around but it seems to be the same old refrain. “We’re going to get it done. We’re going to figure it out. We just gotta take it one game at a time,” he said.
The Knicks have a two-game road trip to Houston and Boston beginning on Thursday. Then it’s a three- game home stand against Detroit, Washington and the Atlanta Hawks on Christmas Day as the Knicks return to playing on the holiday for the first time since 2018.
The Knicks currently sit in 12th place, a game and a half behind the Hawks and the 10th and final playoff/play-in spot. The great Yogi Berra could’ve been referring to the Knicks when he famously said, “It’s getting late early around here.”