Curry Sinks the Knicks
Steph Curry surpassing Ray Allen for the most three pointers all time could be the cherry on top amid the Knicks recent struggles. Luckily for the Knicks, Derrick Rose and Alec Burks were back in the lineup, with RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, and Quentin Grimes out due to covid. But there was just not enough firepower to lift them over a good Warriors team in what was a lethargic game. Golden State played sloppy in the first half, keeping the Knicks within reach, followed by both teams shooting cold in the third quarter. Evan Fournier had just 2 points in 28 minutes and Alec Burks shot 4 for 15 finishing with 14 lousy points. The only bright spot to a Knicks team that has lost 6 out of their last 7 to teams including the Spurs, Pacers, and Raptors, was Julius Randle. He had 31 points shooting 47.6% from the floor keeping the Knicks within reach with his second half heroics. Randle was an all-star last season and took home the award for most improved, leading the Knicks with 24.1 PPG on 45.6% shooting from the field. This season has been a different story, however. Randle has had 8 games out of 27 with 13 points or less, where he had just 5 such games last season out of 71. In addition, Randle has now had 3 games attempting less than 10 shot attempts, where he had just 1 all of last year (via StatMuse).
As for the main story of the night, Stephen Curry is arguably the greatest shooter this game has ever seen. It did not take long for him to break the record as he splashed his first three at the top of the key and then officially broke the record at the 7:28 mark in the first quarter. It was an emotional timeout break afterwards as he embraced both Dell Curry and Ray Allen as the Garden roared with applauds in the background. The 3x champ and 2x MVP now has 2,977 three pointers under his belt and could be on pace to surpass 4,000. Despite hitting his first 2 out of 3 shots from behind the arc, Curry was just 3 for 11 the rest of the night from three finishing his memorable night off in the Mecca with 22 points. The Warriors are now 23-5, first in defensive rating and fourth in offensive rating, that much closer to chasing yet another ring (via NBA).
