Steve Kerr praised Tom Thibodeau’s Knicks as “a typical Thibs team” on Thursday, saying that they are “defending like crazy” while “building a base” to finally respawn as a winning football club.
Such strong words from the three-time NBA championship coach had to mean so much more after the Knicks opened a four-game west blow with a 119-104 victory over the Kerr’s Warriors in San Francisco. It was his third defensively strong win in a row – after a five-game skid – to equal his 8-8 record.
“It means that we have a lot of work to do. We can’t feel good, we have to keep working, ”said Thibodeau after the game. “It’s a long season. You have to go step by step. There are some things that we did well. We had some good wins. But we also had some games in which we could have played much better.
“So we have to be honest with ourselves and know that there is a lot of work to be done and that we are able to improve and do much better. This is our challenge. “
RJ Barrett scored 18 of the 28 points, the best of his career, in the first half, while Julius Randle continued to build his All-Star resume with almost his second triple-double of the season (16 points, 17 rebounds and nine assists).
“We just care about ourselves … and we arrive at each game feeling like we should win the game or give ourselves a chance to win the game,” said Randle after the Knicks improved to 5-4 on the road. “I think we have a good team and we are playing a good team basketball.”
Pivot Nerlens Noel scored four of the Knicks’ nine blocks, Mitchell Robinson scored all of his 18 points after the break and Alec Burks contributed 11 points in 31 minutes off the bench in his first game since suffering an ankle sprain on 27 December.
Stephen Curry finished with 30 points, the best mark in the game, but the twice MVP made four turnovers and missed nine of the 14 attempts in the 3-point range. Golden State (8-7) played the last two quarters without Draymond Green after he received his second technical foul before the break.
“A guy like Curry is impossible to protect with a guy. I thought Elfrid [Payton] did as good a job as possible, ”said Thibodeau. “What you are trying to do is make it work as hard as you can for everything. He missed some shots he probably used to throw, and I think for lack of manpower, we attacked him almost from the point that Draymond was kicked out.
Reggie Bullock (12 points) hit three points out of 3 in the first four minutes and combined with Barrett to 23 points in the first quarter, with the Knicks kicking 54.5 percent off the ground and grabbing the 40-31 lead – his highest score in any quarter this season.
Curry, the NBA’s third-highest scorer (28.1 ppg) entering the game, went scoreless in the first eight minutes before finally converting a three-point play at the end of the period.
Randle responded with a three-point play for the Knicks, and Curry missed his free throw after Payton (15 points) hit him while draining a 26-foot ball beyond the hoop. But Payton hit 3 to close the tie by 55-55, leading to a 63-57 lead by the Knicks by two quarters.
Robinson dived twice and scored the first nine of his 18 points in the second half in the third, while the Knicks increased their lead to 89-76 in the last quarter.
The first of two base dunks from rookie Obi Toppin and a 3-point from first-round teammate Immanuel Quickley put the Knicks ahead by 16 just three minutes from the fourth.
“I said that from the beginning, I love our young people, mainly for their attitude and approach,” said Thibodeau. “Every day they come with a lot of energy. Some days we make mistakes. But the next day there is a determination to correct mistakes and improve. If we do this every day, we will continue to grow. “