BRING ON THE CHAMPS! (OR NOT)
Knicks beat lowly Suns to end 4-game skid, with mighty Warriors up next
THINK OF IT as the dress rehearsal before Sunday’s showdown with Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors.
Occasionally, the NBA schedule falls just right and the desperate Knicks, with Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis back in the lineup, took advantage of a hapless opponent that is in full tank mode.
“I told them let’s not play with this game,” Anthony said following the Knicks’ 10284 win over the Phoenix Suns. “Get after it right from the jump. Get after it. That was the mindset.”
Anthony, who had missed the two previous games with a sore left knee, scored 19 points with 10 rebounds and came within two assists of his third career triple-double. “I keep flirting, right,” Anthony said. Anthony’s bid for two additional assists ended when Derek Fisher wisely sat the AllStar forward in the fourth quarter with the Knicks comfortably ahead.
Anthony played 30 minutes in his first game in six days and was encouraged with how his surgically repaired knee responded. The Knicks entered the night 0-6 without their leading scorer.
“It felt good for the most part,” he added. “I still felt it but I was able to get through it.”
The win ended a four-game losing streak and gave the Knicks (23-26) some momentum going into Sunday’s game against the defending NBA champs. The meeting is the first of two this season with the Warriors, who are on pace to break the Chicago Bulls’ record of 72 wins set during the 1995-96 season. Knicks president Phil Jackson was the Bulls head coach that season.
“(The Warriors) are a dangerous team all across the board,” Anthony said. “You never know where it is coming from. It’s kind of hard to prepare for a team like that. On defense they switch everything. On offense you never know where the shot is coming from. All five guys contribute.”
Golden State is 42-4 entering Saturday’s 5 p.m. game against the Sixers in Philadelphia. The Warriors have lost four road games — Milwaukee, Dallas, Denver and Detroit — but will undoubtedly be up for their one and only visit to the Garden.
“As a competitor I can’t say, ‘Yeah, they’re going to win 72,’ ” Anthony said. “I can’t answer that question. I won’t say no comment either. I just can’t answer it.”
The Knicks met a much different opponent on Friday. The Suns are in such disarray and so undermanned that it would be tough for them to win a game at West 4th Street courts. The Knicks held a double digit lead over the final 42 minutes.
Fisher is closer to having his full complement of players, although point guard Jose Calderon missed his second straight game with a strained groin and may not be available on Sunday. His replacement, Langston Galloway, had 11 points with seven rebounds and five assists. Arron Afflalo added 17 while Porzingis had seven points with seven rebounds in 24 minutes after missing Thursday’s loss in Toronto due to an upper respiratory infection.
“I was still feeling it,” said the rookie, who had played in the first 47 games of his career. “It was hard to breathe. My body wasn’t 100 percent yet. Today, I felt like I could help the team so I wanted to be out there.”
Impressive rookie Devin Booker scored 21 for Phoenix, which fell to 14-34. He was the lone Phoenix starter to score in double figures. The Suns were without their starting backcourt of Eric Bledsoe and Brandon Knight. Former Knick Tyson Chandler started at center and added two points and 12 rebounds.
Thanasis Antetokounmpo, signed by the Knicks to a 10-day contract on Friday, made his NBA debut, playing the last 2:11 and converting the only shot he attempted.
The schedule is about to get tougher again for the Knicks.
Their next four opponents all have winning records, starting with the best team in the league. In fact, maybe the best regular season team of all time.
“We have no choice but to be ready,” Anthony said. “I don’t think it’s about them. It’s more about us…how we prepare.”