A growing rivalry between Draymond Green and Karl-Anthony Towns went to a new level on Saturday night, but it was the Golden State Warriors veteran who got the last laugh as his team staved off the New York Knicks in a 97-94 win at Chase Center.
In an old-school low-scoring playoff-like matchup, Green had four of his nine points in the final 70 seconds, including the game-sealing layup as he blew by Towns off the dribble which was followed by a copy of Stephen Curry's 'night-night' celebration.
Stephen Curry and Moses Moody led the Warriors to a seventh-straight win
Towns was impactful in his own right despite having to sit a significant period of the first-half with foul trouble. The All-Star center had a game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds, but the visitors didn't have enough offensively without Jalen Brunson.
The Warriors had a game-high nine-point lead during the fourth-quarter, before the Knicks battled back to get within two in the final 90 seconds. The hosts did enough to get the job done though, delivering Steve Kerr with the franchise record for most wins as a head coach.
Stephen Curry was hounded by Miles McBride all night, yet the 2x MVP still battled through to finish with a team-high 28 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. Curry had 12 points in the third-quarter alone, punishing Towns on multiple occassions for not stepping up to the level of the screen.
With Jimmy Butler struggling a little and Jonathan Kuminga still on a minutes restriction, it was fourth-year wing Moses Moody who continued his excellent form with 18 points and a pair of steals on 7-of-14 shooting and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc.
Butler and Kuminga combined for just 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting from the floor, but the forward duo did combine for 11 rebounds and 12 assists in the three-point win. Golden State shot less than 40% from the floor and 32% from 3-point range, but they did crucially make seven more free-throws in what's their 14th victory in the last 16 games.
Kerr started Gui Santos in favor of Quinten Post, allowing Green to matchup on Towns after the former Defensive Player of the Year wrongly accused the New York star of ducking the team's previous matchup at Madison Square Garden last week.
The Warriors are now a perfect 4-0 on their home-stand so far, but figure to face their biggest tests when they host the Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks in a back-to-back starting on Monday.
