Knicks succeed at the start of the road season

The Knicks continued to build their reputation as road warriors Thursday night against Golden State.

With their last defensively responsible victory, a 119-104 victory over Stephen Curry and the Warriors, the Knicks tied their overall record at 8-8 and improved to 5-4 on the road this season during Friday night’s visit to Sacramento at the Golden 1 Center. .

“We just try to work hard and work every day. This is really what we are trying to do. We are really focused, we gave it our all and we will continue to do so throughout the season, ”said RJ Barrett after scoring a career-high 28 points against Golden State. “It’s hard to win on the road, and I just think we come in focused and mentally prepare. It has been a good thing and I hope to continue throughout the road trip.

The four-game Western swing continues Sunday night in Portland and ends Tuesday in Utah. The Knicks’ 5-4 start away from Madison Square Garden this season is particularly encouraging after compiling a road record of 54-143 in the previous five seasons, including 10-23 last year and even worse (8- 33) in 2018-19. .

The best explanation – and certainly one aspect of any NBA team that should translate everywhere games are played – is the team’s re-engagement in defense under first-year coach Tom Thibodeau. The Knicks entered Friday’s game number one in the NBA with the fewest points allowed (102.8 per game), while keeping opponents at the lowest field goal percentage (43.0%) and 3 points (30.7%).

Thibodeau had complained that the Knicks had deviated from those defensive principles during the five-game losing streak that preceded their three-game winning streak until Thursday.

“There are a number of things that you look at. We started by building the foundation for the recovery and setting up our defense, ”said Thibodeau after Thursday’s game. “We’re always talking about taking care of the ball, the paint, reacting, covering the line, finishing the defense with a shot and rebound challenge. It takes a lot of effort and everyone is linked.

“We are still a work in progress,” he continued. “There are a lot of things we could do better and we will do it over time. We have to keep practicing and learning and the challenge is when you are on the road like this, when you play a lot of games and your practice time is limited, when we are training, we have to maximize that time and make sure you that we make the fixes and improvements. If we do the right things every day, I know we will play our best at the end.

The Knicks’ improvement in their own camp was visible against the Warriors, who shot just 38.4% from the ground and 23.7% (9 in 38) from a distance of 3 points, including a 5 in 14. long distance night by Curry.

Thibodeau praised starting point guard Elfrid Payton for his efforts against the two-time MVP, who committed four turnovers. Nerlens Noel (four), Mitchell Robinson and rookie Obi Toppin (two each) recorded eight of the Knicks’ nine blocked shots.

“You never know what type of team you are until you go to play,” Julius Randle said. “We had a great start to training camp, a great start to training camp. The guys got better every day. We got better as a team every day. I think we have a coaching staff and coaches that we believe in. We try to have a good game plan and try to execute the game plan. So I think we have pretty good confidence in the team, that’s for sure.