Big third quarter propels Warriors past Knicks for eighth straight time.
After trailing at halftime a 39-18 run in the third quarter puts game away
NEW YORK >> The ball fell out of JaVale McGee’s hands. But before a scramble could ensue, the Warriors center retrieved the ball and did something comedian and New York Knicks fan Jon Stewart thought was impossible.
McGee swished an 11-foot fadeaway, causing Stewart to shake his head and feign the same reaction the former Daily Show host once had for Fox News segments.
“Oh my God!” Stewart said from the sideline.
That third-quarter play summed up the Warriors’ 125-111 victory over the New York Knicks on Monday perfectly. The Warriors (47-14) exerted their thirdquarter dominance against an undermanned Knicks team (24-38) by performing highlight reels that
even amazed the NBA’s defending champions.
“It was funny. You shouldn’t be surprised, Jon Stewart!” McGee said with a smirk after posting 10 points in his third consecutive start at center. “I just shot it. It was instinct. It felt like the right time to shoot it. Luckily I made it.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green called the play “crazy,” a fitting word since that described how McGee’s teammates reacted. Though McGee has worked on that shot in the last year, Warriors guard Stephen Curry mused, “he was not due for that one.”
The Warriors, though, were due for a third-quarter push. It happens often after showing some first-half complacency.
Knicks guard Emmanuel Mudiay finished with 23 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 18 in
the first half, a sharp increase from the 8.7 points he averaged this season on a 39.7 percent clip. The Knicks beat the Warriors in the first half in several categories, including rebounds (20-16) and assists (18-15). And it seemed all too fitting that New York took a 64-63 halftime lead after Knicks guard Lance Thomas made a wide-open 3-pointer from the corner with 1.1 seconds left.
“At halftime, it’s not like we’re making big adjustments or anything,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “It’s more of a mentality shift for the players that they’re in a fight down one at the half. They tend to pick up focus.”
Some on the Warriors insisted their effort was fine in the first half. But as they have often done in the third quarter, the Warriors showed why having four NBA All-Stars can cure most ills.
The Warriors started the third quarter with Green avoiding a shot-clock violation by flinging a 3-point shot that banked into the basket. Green then flailed his arms up and smiled.
“It sparked the run, didn’t it?” Green said, smiling.
“It got everybody going with my amazing shooting. I think that was just karma.”
That karma carried over. Curry buried a pullup 3-pointer. A few possessions later, Warriors guard Klay Thompson did the same thing. And just like that, the Warriors secured a 72-64 lead with 9:05 left in the third quarter after completing a 9-0 run.
“However it goes in, it goes in,” Curry said of Green’s 3-pointer. “I guess he was due. I’d say that. It was nice to see to have him give us a spark on a broken possession. We took that momentum and ran with it.”
That was just the beginning.
McGee threw down a lob. The Knicks missed their first eight shots and did not record a field goal in the third quarter until Mudiay made a 21-foot jumper that cut the Warriors’ lead to 79-68 with 7:25 left. Warriors center Zaza Pachulia ran an entertaining fast-break that started with a steal, continued with a behind-theback dribble and ended with rookie forward Jordan Bell going to the free-throw line. Curry also launched another 3-pointer, drew a foul and converted on a four-point play.
Add it all up, and the
Warriors outscored the Knicks 39-18 in the third quarter, marking the seventh time this season the Warriors outscored an opponent by least 20 points during that stretch. The Warriors also held the Knicks to a 7-of-24 shooting mark from the field, while outrebounding them 15-7.
“I still don’t have an answer for why third quarters are what it is,” said Curry, who had 21 points on 8-of16 shooting. “Beyond anything specific, we can wear teams down for 48 minutes. It might take 24-26 minutes to create that separation and gain that momentum. We came out of halftime with juice and energy and know it’s winning time.”
By then, Curry, Durant and McGee did not need to play the fourth quarter. Thompson (26 points), Durant (22), Curry, Green (10) and McGee already did enough.
• After missing the past 14 games with inflammation in his left ankle, Bell had three points and three assists in 13 minutes off the bench.
• The NBA rescinded Green’s technical foul from Saturday’s game against Oklahoma City. Green has 14 technicals, two away from receiving a one-game suspension without pay.