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.
Knicks: Tom Thibodeau’s suffocating defense vs. Steph Curry’s instant offense
This isn’t a slight at Warriors’ coach Steve Kerr, who is a fantastic coach, but more of an emphasis on how big Curry’s impact has been on every game. The Warriors’ expectations for the season plummeted when Klay Thompson suffered a season-ending injury, and Curry has had to put the team on his back.
Curry was actually a late scratch in the Warriors’ last game due to an illness, although it was reported to not be COVID-19 related. He should be ready to suit up in New York, and you know Thibodeau’s Knicks will be overloading defenders in Curry’s direction.
Curry finished the last game against the Knicks with 30 points and 4 assists but shot just 5-14 from three. In his postgame interview, Curry emphasized how the Knicks established the tone early in the game:
"“We mucked the game up by letting them get to the free throw line, letting them set up their defense… and that plays well into what the Knicks like to do, knowing they’re a very physical team.”"
Thibodeau will do everything in his power to make sure Curry is only taking tough shots. If that comes at the expense of other Warriors getting decent looks, so be it. The Knicks want Curry to be exhausted throughout the game and have him put in maximum work on every possession.
The Knicks will have to get creative when they blitz Curry because of his ability to find open players. He’ll see a lot of Elfrid Payton and Reggie Bullock, two players who love to establish a physical tone early. It’s going to be fun to see what different looks the Knicks will throw at Curry to get him off of his game.
Knicks’ Julius Randle vs. Warriors’ Draymond Green
Two extremely physical power forwards will go head-to-head in the front-court, and it’s going to get testy. Draymond Green and Julius Randle are similar from a physical profile: Randle measures in at about 6’8, 249 lbs, and Green at 6’6, 230lbs. Both players move very well for their size.
Randle has been an offensive dynamo that defenses haven’t been able to slow down. On the season Randle is averaging over 23 points per game, and he’s scored at least 22 points in 10 of his last 11 games.
Draymond Green is a former Defensive Player of The Year who is one of the few players in the league that can match-up well physically with Randle. Green was part of the controversial loss against the Hornets last game where he was ejected late in the game. You know he’s going to be locked-in heading into this game.
Randle finished the last game against the Warriors with just 16 points while shooting 36% from the field, so you know he’ll be itching to have a better performance this time around.
These two are going to be matched up throughout the game, and Draymond is one of the few big-men that can follow Randle around on the perimeter. The Knicks won the first game against the Warriors by dominating the paint, and I fully expect them to run plenty of post-ups and elbow-isolations with Randle.
The Knicks want to establish their physical presence early, and Randle is a huge part of that. Things could get chippy with Draymond in the way. Look for this matchup to be a grueling battle that could set the tone for the entire game.
Knicks – RJ Barrett’s slithery offense vs. Warriors’ Andrew Wiggins lockdown defense
Andrew Wiggins has started to change the narrative around his game this season. When Wiggins played under Tom Thibodeau for the Timberwolves, he was often at the center of the “Lack of effort” turmoil that played a major part of Thibodeau’s ugly tenure in Minnesota. There is certainly plenty of blame to go around on both sides, but Wiggins will surely be excited to play against his former coach.
Wiggins has played defense at an extremely high level all season long for the Warriors and he’s held some of the game’s top scoring wings to poor shooting performances. Now, he’ll face RJ Barrett, who has been up and down as a scorer this season.
Like Randle and Green, Wiggins and Barrett have some similarities in their physical profile — both have good size for wing players. Wiggins has been a terrific perimeter defender this season, and Barrett must continue to attack the rim if he wants to beat him.
RJ Barrett is the Knicks’ 2nd leading scorer and he’ll see plenty of Wiggins all night. Barrett absolutely needs to play a part in the Knicks’ overall gameplan, which is to attack the paint and keep the pace slow. This is an area where Barrett can excel.
RJ Barrett isn’t someone who can consistently hit difficult jump shots, so the key for him is to continue attacking his defender downhill and let the jump shots open up later. If Barrett can establish his physicality early on and potentially get Wiggins into some foul trouble, he can be a key contributor in this game.
These two teams are hungry to climb in the standings, and the Knicks will finally have their fans at the Garden to cheer them on. This is going to be a blast.