NO MELO, NO CHANCE
ANTHONY SITS AS KNICKS ROUTED BY WARRIORS
OAKLAND, Calif. — No Carmelo Anthony. No Derrick Rose. No sufficient pregame warmups. No chance for the Knicks at Oracle Arena.
With the Knicks missing two of their Big 3, the team bus arrived late for their predictable rout versus the Warriors, with most players entering the locker room 45 minutes before tip-off after a two-hour bus ride across the traffic-riddled Bay Bridge.
They faced a Warriors superteam bent more on moving the ball than actually scoring as they notched assists on their first 36 baskets — an unheard-of feat — and rolled past the depleted Knicks, 103-90. There are no records kept on assist-to-field-goal streaks to start a game, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr indicated the team looked more like it was toying with the Knicks than trying to blow them out.
Losing coach Jeff Hornacek praised his team while the winning coach, Kerr, was disappointed, believing they were passing too much as they improved to 23-4.
“I didn’t think there was much purpose to anything we did on either end of the floor,’’ Kerr said. “We moved the ball because our guys are instinctive with that and unselfish and they enjoy playing together, but [there was] no purpose offensively, very little interest defensively. We’re probably lucky we played a team without a couple of its best players.” Hornacek said the Knicks stayed competitive. “We played hard,’’ Hornacek said. “I got to give our guys credit for at least trying hard.’’
The defeat sent the Knicks (14-12) to a 2-2 record on their western trip and on to Denver for the final game of the road swing.
Lance Thomas started for Anthony, who was resting a bruised shoulder, and went 2-for-9, scoring five points. Brandon Jennings, starting for Rose, didn’t take the cue from the selfless Warriors and rarely was a playmaker, shooting 4-of-13 for 10 points.
It was a too-quiet night for Kristaps Porzingis, who finished 4-of-13 for eight points against the Warriors’ supreme defender, Draymond Green. Porzingis was a team-worst minus 21 as the Knicks, who fell behind by 23 points in the third quarter, shot 40.9 percent. Maybe Porzingis needed a rest day, too.
“The focus was on him going into the game and Draymond takes those challenges,’’ Hornacek said.
“Games like this — I got to watch film and prepare for next time for defenses like this,” Porzingis said.
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson are each averaging more than 20 points per game, and the Warriors are sharing the ball in unmatched fashion. However generous with the scoring, the Warriors were credited with 26 assists on their 26 field goals in the first half as Golden State’s players appeared to make a conscious effort of driving up their assist total.