SAN FRANCISCO – Nice Guy won more battles but lost the game.
Karl Anthony Towns faced ruthless bully Draymond Green and scored a game-high 29 points, generating a game-high 12 rebounds before fouling out with 6.1 seconds left.
However, the center, along with his Knicks teammate, defeated Stretch, allowing Greene to make his final taunt on Saturday night with the Warriors' 97-94 victory.
The Knicks (42-24) got cold at the final 2:45 and miserably failed the stretch without an injured Jalen Branson.
Green hit the dagger – giving the Warriors a six-point lead with 25 seconds left.
He then placed his hand next to his face and skipped the courtroom. The “Goodnight” gesture was made famous by Steph Curry at the Olympics.
The background was a reckless comment from Green. Green spread rumors on his podcast that Towns missed a match against the Warriors at MSG this month as he was ducking his longtime nemesis Jimmy Butler. Green was thought to be injured, but admitted, “I didn't look deep into it to understand what his injuries were.” In fact, the town missed the game to attend the funeral of a close family friend who died after a long battle with breast cancer.
In the aftermath, Greene, who had been trying to bully the town for years, had no attitude and offered him a podcast. “I chose to approach it with love rather than hate.”
Apparently, the green lined up as the town's main defender for most of the evening. And it started exquisitely for the Knicks Center. In the first ownership of the game, the town passed the green with a pump fake for a dunk.
Within six minutes, town had 11 points and 5 rebounds. That felt like a personal thing. But the adrenaline backfired. The town succumbed to early foul trouble. And tensions rippled up as 8:08 left in the second quarter.
Town and Green are trapped around, and the Knicks Center is hissed for a loose ball foul. It was already the town's third offence, urging Green to point to the Knicks bench and say “put him down.”
The town walked to the green and the two were separated after a very short in-person crying session.
That was the end of the first half of town.
However, Cat picked up from where he left off after the break. Almost two minutes into the third quarter, he buried Butler with a deep three-pointer and a left-handed hook on the green. The Knicks survived the horrifying third quarter against the Warriors, entering their final period with a deficit of just 75-72.
“I knew they were doing what they were doing in the third quarter for a long time,” Towns said. “One of the best teams we've come together in the third quarter.”
With 2:45 left, Mikal Bridge finished with 19 points and tied the game with a pull-up. The Warriors (39-28) finished the Knicks with a game-breaking 7-1 run.
Anger also sneaked into the Knicks bench. During the fourth quarter timeout, Josh Hart shot a miserable 0 with a 7 with 0 points, cried out angrily back and forth with Tom Thibodeau. The coach seemed particularly upset as he burned the standing players out of his seat.
OG Anunoby added 23 points and nine rebounds. Miles McBride scored 19 points while defending Curry.
Before the game, Thibodeau praised the town and called it the NBA's most versatile scoring center. That list probably includes Nikola Jokic.
“Looking at his career, I think he had an incredible career. He was winning at a high level (with the Timberwolves),” the Knicks coach said. “As a league, I think everyone was moving to five skilled people in that position. In my opinion, there's no center more skilled than him in terms of ability to score at all three levels. And on top of that, his ability to pass, and he's always been an elite rebounder. With his experience, I think he's got better every year in Minnesota. And he sacrificed a lot. When they traded with Rudy (Goat), he moved to the power forward position and then they got Anthony Edwards, he adapted to that as well. They reached the Western Conference Finals because of their willingness to put first at the expense of the team, so I thought it was perfect for us.”
