“Sparks flew, records fell and the box score nearly burst into flames,” writes the New York Times’ Howard Beck after observing the 7-man New York Knicks zip past Golden State last night, 138-125. If you’d predicted Saturday that Chris Duhon would tally a franchise record 22 assists, or that of all the forwards in the Association, David Lee would score 37 points and collect 21 rebounds, I would very much to put you in charge of my dog’s college fund. Amongst those unimpressed, however, is the Daily News’ Filip Bondy, who accuses the Warriors of having “behaved as if they’d never before witnessed a pick and roll. Their entire defense went missing for 48 minutes, allowing the Knicks to set all kinds of records that meant very little when placed within the context of this ludicrous victory.”
It wasn’t one of those heated rivalry games,” Al Harrington noticed.Yes, Oakland must be the place to go when rebuilding is the plan, and when basketball games don’t resemble the sport as we once recognized it around here.
“I know it would be easier,” Warriors coach Don Nelson was saying Saturday, about a hypothetical version of the Knicks reinventing themselves out West. “It’s not easy rebuilding anywhere, but it’s kind of exciting with my team watching the (players) grow.”
Never before had a team retreated with such commitment. The Warriors were unforgivably horrible. No worries. Nelson deals with a patient owner, a minimal fan base, two newspaper beat writers and a lot of nice weather out there in the Bay Area. He served his time in New York, and it didn’t go well. Now Nelson can afford to win, or lose, at his own pace.
“I sure hope it’s possible,” Walsh said, about rebuilding a club in New York. He can only hope there are enough lousy teams out there, like Golden State, to keep his club afloat and enough tickets sold during tough times.
There were plenty of empty seats Saturday night, and then the Knicks went out and played the sort of no-look defense that would lose to about 20 teams in the league. Not to the Warriors, though.