Nine-man Golden State runs out of steam late in 110-107 loss to Knicks

NEW YORK – Steve Kerr jokingly opened his pregame press conference at Madison Square Garden by telling reporters that he had cooked up a revolutionary scheme that would perplex New York Knicks coach — and former Golden State Warriors assistant — Mike Brown.

It turned out that the Xs-and-O’s Kerr alluded to were actually just playing with relentless energy and the kind of desperation only a team that had lost four in a row was capable of, but it proved effective while it lasted.

The Warriors led at the half, outhustling a Knicks team that sleepwalked through the first 24 minutes.

But the Knicks’ talent — and size — advantage was simply too much to overcome down the stretch. New York rallied in the third and held off Golden State in the fourth to hand the Warriors a 110-107 loss.

It was Golden State’s fifth defeat in a row. With the Trail Blazers losing, the Warriors remained a half-game up on Portland for the ninth seed.

Brandin Podziemski scored 25 and Gui Santos had 22, while Quinten Post returned from a sore ankle to score 20. Jalen Brunson put up a game-high 30 points for the Knicks.

Santos’ nifty step-through layup cut the Knicks lead to 104-103 with two minutes remaining. Brunson’s step-back midrange jumper pushed the Knicks lead back to three, but Podziemski’s high-arcing layup got the deficit back to one with a minute remaining.

After Brunson missed another fadeaway, Podziemski went or the pullup off-the-dribble 3-pointer with under 24 seconds remaining and missed. Landry Shamet made two free throws with 16 seconds remaining to give the Knicks a 108-105 lead. Podziemski drove for a layup with seven seconds on the clock before Golden State fouled with six seconds left.

OG Anunoby made both of his free throws, and Post bobbled a wayward pass on the final possession.

Golden State had eight players out — the injured being Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler, Al Horford, Draymond Green, Moses Moody and Seth Curry. De’Anthony Melton and Kristaps Porzingis were both being held out of the first leg of a back-to-back.

Warriors hit their first six shots to take a 19-13 lead, and finished the quarter up 35-21 after Malevy Leons put back a shot with a couple second remaining.

Despite only having nine active players against a nearly-full strength Knicks squad, Golden State used a zone to stifle the home team into just two points in the paint and 3-of-15 shooting from behind the arc in the first quarter.

Back-to-back Gary Payton II 3-pointers pushed the lead to 44-25 just two minutes into the second quarter.

Wearing his sparkling gold and purple Kobe’s, Payton II made sure to hold his left-handed follow through as boo’s rained down from the Madison Square Garden crowd.

But after one more Post basket, the Knicks – led by Brunson and OG were able to hang around and then turn the tide. Nine second quarter turnovers by the Warriors did not help the visitors cause, but Golden State still led 54-45 at the half.

But the Knicks’s shot-making and depth were too much to overcome in the second half. They went up 83-80 and then survived Golden State’s last-second push. The Warriors travel to the nation’s capitol on Monday and play at the Wizards.

In the zone

With the thinnest of rosters at his disposal, Kerr turned to a college-style strategy on Selection Sunday. He threw a zone at the Knicks, a tactic that helped mitigate New York’s ability to break down Golden State off the dribble at the expense of giving up 3-pointers.

That was a worthwhile tradeoff as long as the Knicks bricked from behind the arc, which was the entire first half. New York shot just 5 of 21 from 3-point territory in the first half, and the rangy Leons and Payton II were pests in the zone and used their long wingspan to create problems.

The Knicks began to assert themselves in the second half, with Karl-Anthony Towns playing more in the post. New York was 5 of 11 over the final 24 minutes from behind the line.

Yurtseven debut

The Warriors’ roster is so decimated that the team asked a G-League center to play the same day he was signed. Omer Yurtseven has three years of NBA experience to his name, but Kerr admitted pregame that he did not know much about the Turkish native aside from what he’d seen when the Warriors would play the Heat in past years.

But with the lineup as thin as it was on Sunday, Kerr asked Yurtseven to play 13 minutes against a Knicks front line boasting Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson. Things went about as well as one could expect given the circumstances.

Yurtseven scored no points but grabbed four rebounds while looking a step or two slow on defense.

Rebounding woes

The Warriors’ hustle and the Knicks poor shooting helped Golden outrebound the Knicks 23-17 in the first half. But a combination of better New York shooting, and the home team finally taking advantage of their size, resulted in a truly mind-boggling third quarter stat.

The Knicks outrebounded Golden State 15-1 in that quarter. Josh Hart gobbled up seven rebounds, while Towns pulled down three offensive boards. Leons grabbed the Warriors’ only rebound of the third quarter. The Knicks outrebounded Golden State 44-35 over the course of the game.

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