Knicks survive in San Francisco after nearly blowing out 13 point lead

The New York Knicks ended a four game losing streak and managed to get away with a rare 116-114 victory in San Francisco against the Golden State Warriors, in a game that featured 15 lead changes, 10 ties and a 13 point fourth quarter lead that was nearly blown out in crunch time.

The Warriors had a final chance to tie the game with 6.2 left, Klay Thompson got an open look but missed at the buzzer from the paint.

Earlier, the Warriors had another chance of tying the game after a couple of free throws made by Joathan Kuminga that got the Warriors trailing 112-110.  Alec Burks turned the ball over and Steph Curry missed an off the glass layup that could had tie it. On the other end, Julius Randle put two points up on a goaltend.

Randle scored 28 points and matched his season best of 16 rebounds while Evan Fournier added 22 buckets for the Knicks. The 27 year old All Star, who was spared from being traded played one of his best games of the season.

“The thing I liked about it was the resolve of the team tonight. We played really well today, but can’t feel too good about it. I loved the unselfishness of the team. We drove the ball and weren’t trying to shoot over their size. It was a real solid team win.”

– Tom Thibodeau

The Knicks built their largest lead of the game two minutes into the fourth quarter after five consecutive points scored by Burks that put his team up, 97-84.

During the next five and a half minutes, however, the Warriors would force themselves back in the game by outscoring their opponents 18-7.

Curry dropped a game high 35 points and dished out 10 assists for the home team. Thompson and Kuminga added 17 points each.

No team has led by double digits during the first three acts of the contest. The Knicks went on a 7-0 run during the closing minutes of the third and first minute of the third to make it 92-82 after the Warriors closed the gap from 79-73 to 81-80 in just two minutes.

The Warriors had their biggest lead shortly before halftime when Kevon Looney made a tip shot with 30 seconds left in the first half to give his team a 62-55 lead.

The Knicks bench was pretty solid. With RJ Barrett missing indefinitely due to a sprained ankle, coach Thibodeau went with Quentin Grimes in the starting lineup and had Burks and Cam Reddish coming off the bench.

Grimes scored just six but made a key three pointer with 2:58 on the clock. Reddish played nearly 20 minutes and scored 12 points while shooting 4-8 from the field. Burks led the bench with 15 buckets and Taj Gibson scored 10 and collected 7 boards.

For Reddish this was his big chance to impact the game. The trade deadline had just passed and the Knicks rejected a Lakers’ trade proposal that involved the 22 year old. President Leon Rose hopes Cam would take a bigger role in the rotation.

Up-next: The Knicks (25-31) will end their west cost trip tonight in Portland where they’ll take on the 22-34 Blazers from 5:00pm.