The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Warriors beat Knicks in Kerr’s MSG coaching debut
>> Draymond Green had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and the Golden State Warriors beat the New York Knicks 106-92 on Saturday night to give Steve Kerr a win in his first game coaching in the arena he nearly called home.
Stephen Curry scored 19 points and Klay Thompson had 16 on a night neither shot well. But the Warriors have plenty of weapons even when their All-Stars struggle, one of the many reasons Kerr never needs question the decision he made last summer when he chose between two job openings.
He picked the Warriors over the Knicks, and the difference is 30 victories as the teams near the All-Star break.
Langston Galloway scored 15 points for the Knicks, who gave Carmelo Anthony a night off and lost their third straight. The AllStar forward who has dealt with a sore left knee much of the season rested on the second night of back-toback games.
The Knicks trailed by as much as 26 without him, but cut it to five in the fourth quarter before Curry made a couple of 3-pointers down the stretch.
Kerr was considered the leading candidate to coach the Knicks from nearly the moment Phil Jackson was hired as team president in March. They continued talking about the job into the spring, and Jackson said Kerr verbally committed to accepting it before telling him he wanted to pursue the Warriors job instead after they fired Mark Jackson.
That allowed him to stay close to his family, not to mention inherit a playoff team, but Kerr said breaking the news to his former coach was tough.
“It was difficult because I’m very, very close with him and I feel like I’m indebted to him for much of what’s transpired in my career,” Kerr said.
The difficult choice was the correct one.
Golden State improved to 40-9, tops in the Western Conference, while the Knicks fell to 10-41.
The Warriors, coming off a 124-116 loss at NBA-leading Atlanta on Friday night, led 32-19 after one even though Curry and Thompson missed 10 of their 12 shots. It was 64-48 at halftime and what seemed like an easy night when Thompson’s jumper made it 89-63 with 3:08 left in the third.
But the lead was down to 95-90 after Shane Larkin’s steal and layup with a little more than 4 minutes remaining. The Warriors then scored six straight, with Curry’s 3-pointer making it 101-90 with 2:52 to play.
Curry had a career-best 54 points here two years ago and a triple-double last year, but had no assists and couldn’t get the crowd buzzing much Saturday. Nor could Thompson, who shot 5 for 22.
The Knicks play their final two games before the All-Star break on the road while the NBA prepares Madison Square Garden to host the All-Star game next Sunday. Curry and Thompson will play for the West and Kerr will coach the team thanks to the Warriors having the conference’s best record. WIZARDS 114, NETS 77 >> John Wall scored 17 points, Rasual Butler had 15 and the Washington Wizards broke a five-game skid, coasting to a 114-77 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday night.
Playing without starting guard Bradley Beal, who sat out with an injured right big toe, Washington led throughout. The 37-point margin of victory was its largest of the season.
The Nets, who had won three straight, were led by Brook Lopez with 19.
The Wizards led by 12 points five minutes into the game and by 20 at halftime. Halfway through the third quarter, they increased their advantage to 30. By then, the starters were all watching.
>> Brandon Knight scored 26 points and Giannis Antetokounmpo addeled 14 points and 11 rebounds as the Milwaukee Bucks held off the Boston Celtics 96-93 on Saturday night for their sixth win in seven games.
Milwaukee went more than three minutes without scoring before John Henson made a half-hook in the lane with 2:04 remaining to put the Bucks up 94-91. But at the other end, Henson was called for goaltending with 29.4 seconds to go to make it a one-point game.
The Bucks then ran the clock down to 6.7 seconds and Knight buried a jumper from the top left to make it 96-93.
It was Antetokounmpo’s fourth double-double in the last seven games, after getting three the entire season prior to Jan. 27.
Jared Sullinger had 17 points and Marcus Smart added 13 for Boston, which fell to 3-25 when trailing after three quarters.