1) These Warriors are too talented, too well-coached, have too much continuity, and can peak too high to lose at home to a sub-.500 team with an interim coach, and a cranky superstar. The Warriors were on fire all night (50% FG) but their shooting was aided by Knick players inexplicably going under screens (treating Steph as if he were Rajon Rondo and not the best shooter of all time), or straight up forgetting to locate the open shooter. New York’s transition defense wasn’t much better, allowing the Dubs 24 fast break points. On offense Melo and Company were smothered by the Warriors long-armed, quick-footed five-men-on-a-string defensive scheme. When the Dubs secured a 15-point lead 52 seconds into the second quarter, the only suspense remaining was whether Mo Speights would hit another three and would Harrison Barnes finally break out of his rugged offensive slump.
2) Mo Buckets shot 3-of-5 from distance and had another stellar performance with 13 points in 16 minutes. Speights’ 3-pointers have gone from Victory Cigar status, to a genuine threat opposing defenses have to account for. Since March 1, Mo is 9-of-19 from beyond the arc.
3) Unfortunately, on a night that saw the Warriors easily score 121 points, Barnes couldn’t join in on the fun. HB shot 2-of-7 and finished with 8 points in the game. The two shots he made were both from point-blank range, and of his five misses, one was an air ball 3-pointer from the corner. Eventually Barnes’ scoring woes will be corrected, but until then, the numbers are getting ghastly: 8 points per game on 37% shooting in March after a productive February.
4) On two of the rare occasions where the Knicks actually put a hand in Curry’s face, the MVP banked in a three to beat the buzzer and dropped in another one of those the-ball-was-only-in-his-hand-
5) Draymond — all 6-foot-5.75-inches of him — blocked a Kristaps Porzingis jumper in the first. The Latvian Gangster is damn near a foot taller than him, but in the third, Dray did it again, this time swatting the ball out of Porzings’ hands on a 2-on-1 fast break. Go easy on the rook, Dray!
6) After watching Bogut sink a 3-pointer in the previous game, and witnessing Mo Speights’ transformation into a Splash (Distant) Cousin, James Michael McAdoo must have been salivating for the opportunity to start launching from deep. JMA got that chance in the fourth with his first career triple. It seems everyone in a Warriors jersey can strike from distance these days (everyone but HB, anyway).
7) Maybe Steph and Klay have been taking lessons at Andrew Bogut’s Screen Setting Academy. Bogues got an open lob via Klay’s back screen. The Splash Bros smartly taking advantage of their offensive gravity while screen setting is an under-appreciated wrinkle in the Ws offense.
8) Watching the rejuvenated Brandon Rush (5 points per game, 42% from deep) makes me wonder why all veterans looking to improve their value in free agency wouldn’t come to the Warriors. On this team, with Steph and Klay sucking in all defenders, players are going to get a buffet of open 3-pointers. Marco Bellinelli parlayed two efficient seasons in San Antonio into a $19 million deal with Sacramento. Can’t the Warriors benefit like the Spurs from veterans looking to improve their stats for a season or two?
9) I wonder whether Kurt Rambis’ glasses are the kind that cuts the harmful blue light from computer screens. You know, for when he’s perusing stuff on Twitter.
10) 61-6 is hard to fathom. For some perspective, even if the the 24-game win streak was taken away, like it never happened, the Dubs would be 37-6, which would still be a 70-win pace. Think about that. Were the 24-game streak to disappear today, these Warriors would still be on pace to finish with the second-best record in NBA history. Now that’s something to “like”!