The Knicks are heading into a home matchup with the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday that will be the first time Madison Square Garden will have fans in the building since March 8th, 2020. The team will be fired up to face a Warriors team that currently sits at 8th in the Western Conference. This will be the 2nd meeting between the two teams this season — The Knicks won their first matchup with the Warriors almost a month ago, with a final score of 119-104.
The Knicks are coming off an ugly win against the league-worst Minnesota Timberwolves. The Knicks led comfortably for most of the game until they nearly blew the game in the 4th quarter. Thankfully, the team hung on to win the game and now find themselves just one game under .500.
The Warriors are coming off a brutal, controversial loss to the Charlotte Hornets, and they’ll be hungry to get back in the win column against the Knicks. The Warriors have recently dealt with some injuries to their frontcourt players James Wiseman and Kevan Looney, who have both missed a few games, although coach Steve Kerr is optimistic they could return against the Knicks.
The Warriors 16-15 record is just one game better than the Knicks. These two teams are stylistically very different. The Warriors play at the 2nd fastest pace in the NBA. The Knicks are 32nd — dead last in pace.
This should be a fun game that could go in a variety of different directions. Both teams are fighting to get some breathing room in their respective conferences. Let’s take a look at some of the key matchups that will end up determining the outcome of the game.