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Anthony Slater: Kristaps Porzingis is out tonight in Atlanta with lower back tightness. Jonathan Kuminga is off the injury report and cleared to face the Warriors. Questionable: Draymond Green, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Payton II, Quinten Post.
While putting up a valiant fight against a vastly superior roster, the Warriors committed 18 giveaways. They threw some passes out of bounds, threw a few to the Knicks and even dribbled them away. Quinten Post had five turnovers, as did Gui Santos. Podziemski committed four. Richard committed two, and the second one was relatively innocuous – until Kerr’s fiery reaction. “I thought (Richard) could have caught the ball,” Kerr said when asked about the incident, which was noted by the NBC telecast crew. “It was a bad pass from BP; BP should have made a good pass, and Will's got a dunk. (Instead) it turns into a five-point swing. I was mad at Will because I thought he could have corralled the ball and not thrown it. I thought he was trying to make an around- the-back pass for a score. I might be wrong, but I from my angle looked like he could have corralled the ball and made a stop.”
The Knicks’ talent — and size — advantage was simply too much to overcome down the stretch. New York rallied in the third and held off Golden State in the fourth to hand the Warriors a 110-107 loss. It was Golden State’s fifth defeat in a row. With the Blazers losing, the Warriors remained a half-game up on Portland for the ninth seed. Brandin Podziemski scored 25 and Gui Santos had 22, while Quinten Post returned from a sore ankle to score 20. Jalen Brunson put up a game-high 30 points for the Knicks.
The one and only Warriors player who didn’t score in double figures was as impressive as anybody else in Golden State's dominant 133-112 win against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night at FedExForum. Malevy Leons finished one point shy of being the Warriors’ ninth player to score at least 10 points. Leons, who is on a two-way contract, had played 21 NBA minutes all season. He played 18 productive minutes in Memphis and made his fellow Dutchman proud. “It’s really cool for Dutch basketball history for us to be on the court together,” Warriors center Quinten Post said to Bob Fitzgerald and Kelenna Azubuike at halftime. "I’ve known Mal since I was 13, something like that. We played together in Amsterdam, so really cool to share the court here with him.”
Anthony Slater: The Warriors expect Al Horford to make his return today against the Mavericks, assuming his pregame warmup goes smooth. Kerr did say he will stick with similar rotation and play Quinten Post and Trayce Jackson-Davis at center.
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Anthony Slater: In a search for better continuity, Steve Kerr said he will keep the five-man group of Steph Curry, Moses Moody, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green and Quinten Post as the established starting lineup for the foreseeable future (barring injury).
Sam Gordon: Warriors roll 123-91 and improve to 14-12. Jimmy Butler returns with 19/8/6, Brandin Podziemski with 21/8/7, Quinten Post supplies 19 points/five threes and Pat Spencer adds 12/5/6. Jonathan Kuminga not in a rotation set to deepen with Stephen Curry/Draymond Green/Al Horford.
Anthony Slater: Jimmy Butler has been ruled out tonight in Philadelphia. Downgraded from questionable because of left knee soreness. Al Horford, Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post remain questionable.
Anthony Slater: All questionable for the Warriors tomorrow night in Philadelphia Jimmy Butler (knee) Jonathan Kuminga (ankle) Al Horford (sciatica) Quinten Post (ankle) Trayce Jackson-Davis (knee) Steph Curry is out. De'Anthony Melton is returning.
The Golden State Warriors have upgraded De’Anthony Melton (left ACL surgery) to available for Thursday’s game against Philadelphia. Jimmy Butler (left knee soreness), Al Horford (right sciatic nerve irritation), Trayce Jackson-Davis (right knee patellar tendonitis), Jonathan Kuminga (right ankle soreness) and Quinten Post (left ankle sprain) are listed as questionable.
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How did playing hoops in the Netherlands shape you? Post: “Basketball isn’t the biggest sport in the Netherlands. It’s really a soccer-dominated country. But it helped me. It helped me mature early on. I left the house at 18 to go to Berlin to play for a year. Then at 19, I crossed the ocean to go play in college (Mississippi State, Boston College). It taught me a lot just with the style of basketball and the fact that I’m a stretch big. In the European game, they teach kids a full skillset. It’s about being able to play in and out, both with and without the ball. So on a basketball level, I feel like it has shaped me into the player that I am.”
What did you change? Post: “I didn’t change my technique. But shooting is a very mental thing. If you’re doubting your shot, then it becomes hard. I came in with a lot of pressure on myself to make shots early on in training camp. So I struggled early. But once I got my reps in the G League and I played some games, I got my groove back. Then I shot the ball really well out there. It was just reps. I shot a bunch of shots, obviously. The coaching staff really helped me by telling me that I didn’t have to worry about misses. They trusted me in making shots.” In what ways did Steph help you with that? Post: “I wasn’t too much in contact with him while I was in the G League. But once I came up here, he told me that if I’m open to let it fly. So besides him, I feel like all the players expected me to shoot it and expected me to make it. So that really helped.”
On another topic, how did it come to be for you to get involved in a chess tournament last summer? Post: “After I had my break in the Netherlands, I came back here. I worked out every morning in the facility, and then I had the rest of the day for myself. So I had some time. I always used to like to play chess. But I played inconsistently. So I played a lot this summer online. I even joined a chess club in San Francisco. And then I got invited to the ‘Chesstival’ in Vegas. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do it.’ It ended up being a really cool event. I met a bunch of great people. I ended up winning a section of it. That was pretty cool.” You won the tournament. What was the key and strategy to pull that off? Post: “In one section, I got to the semifinals. But in the individual tournament, I won the whole thing. I think it helped that I played a lot before. Building up to that, I was playing a lot in the summer. Maybe some of the other guys that played did it at the last minute. So I would say it was my preparation.”
Down their top two players, adding Horford and Moody to the list of Warriors absences called for an interesting starting five. Coach Steve Kerr started with Podziemski, Buddy Hield, Jonathan Kuminga, Draymond Green and Quinten Post. Moses Moody is out the rest of the preseason and will be re-evaluated in a week with what the Warriors are calling a strained calf. “We’re not too concerned about it. It’s just we’re being careful,” Kerr told reporters in LA.
