With OG Anunoby out with a flare-up on his surgically fixed elbow, New York Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau used a tactic that surprised the Golden State Warriors .
“I believed Tom made an excellent decision by starting [Miles] McBride while OG was out,” Kerr informed reporters after the Knicks’ start-to-finish 119-112 victory at Chase Center on Monday, March 18. “Having McBride in there created space on the floor and obviously, he got into a rhythm and they had us really spread out early.”
McBride took the opportunity and played exceptionally well — locking down Stephen Curry on defense and making 3-pointers like
Stephen Curry.
The Knicks swiftly gained an 18-4 lead and never looked back.
McBride’s strong defense boosted his confidence as he made 6 3-pointers for a total of 29 points, both personal bests. He scored 11 points in the first quarter and 19 by halftime.
“We wanted to add more shooting to the floor,” Thibodeau told reporters. “That’s really, you know, why we did it. When they sent the second defender (at Brunson) now we have another 3-point shooter out there. We thought that would make a difference.”
It turned out to be the game’s biggest difference.
Knicks Had Answer to Every Warriors Rally
However, it was not all smooth sailing for the Knicks, who were leading by 15 points multiple times. The Warriors reduced their lead to six, 62-56, at halftime as Curry scored 13 of his 15 first-half points. He ended up with 27 points on 8 of 20 shooting.
Golden State came as close as four points multiple times, the last one being Trayce Jackson-Davis’ dunk that made it 99-95 with 9:29 left in the fourth quarter. However, the Knicks had a response to every Warriors’ comeback.
“It’s tough and their coach did a really good job of calling timeouts,” Jackson-Davis told reporters. “He used all of them every time we got a little bit of momentum.”
Bojan Bogdanovic and Josh Hart teamed up with Jalen Brunson to regain the Knicks’ lead to double digits.
Hart achieved his fifth career triple-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists while playing all 48 minutes. Brunson finished with 34 points, leading all scorers after his back-to-back 40-point performances that earned him his third NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.
Miles McBride Is an ‘NBA Player for a Reason’
McBride, a former second-round pick, finished what he started and made a crucial 3-pointer that sealed the game in the final 3:29 of the fourth quarter.
Curry and Klay Thompson‘s 3-pointers came late for Golden State as New York remained steady at the free throw line to secure a 3-0 record in their current four-game road trip.
“You probably don’t expect Miles McBride to go 9 for 13 and score 29 [points], but he’s a fantastic player,” Kerr stated, before downplaying the performance of the Knicks backup guard. “He’s an NBA player for a reason and so he had a fantastic night and I thought they spread us out early with that starting
starting players. And using the pick and roll, McBride managed to get open a few times which helped him start playing well.
So sometimes, even if you try to do everything correctly, players still manage to get open. Having said that, I believe we had many defensive breakdowns.”
