Golden State Warriors forward Brandon Rush (4) defends a shot by New York Knicks forward Derrick Williams (23) in the second half of an NBA basketball game at Madison Square Garden in New York, Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016. The Warriors defeated the Knicks 116-95. AP
LOS ANGELES, United States — The NBA champion Golden State Warriors dominated the New York Knicks 116-95 at Madison Square Garden on Sunday with the help of forward Draymond Green’s ninth triple-double of the season.
Green scored 20 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and handed out 10 assists as the Warriors notched their seventh straight victory to improve their league-leading record to 44-4.
He tied Tom Gola for most triple-doubles by a Warrior in a season and helped Golden State bounce back from Saturday’s sloppy showing against the 76ers in Philadelphia, where the league’s worst team nearly rallied for an upset before the Warriors sealed a 108-105 win with a late three-pointer.
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Green admitted after that game that in chasing a triple-double against Philadelphia he made too many turnovers – a confession that drew praise from coach Steve Kerr.
“It was awesome that Draymond admitted that publicly, admitted to his teammates that he was going for a triple-double, and it kind of messed with the flow of the game,” Kerr said. “I’ve never heard a player actually admit to that.”
Green didn’t have to press for 10 assists against the Knicks, and once the Warriors got through a low-scoring first quarter in which they had eight turnovers to just seven baskets, their vaunted offense began to click.
They connected on 14 of 17 shots in the second period, led by six at halftime and never trailed after the interval.
Stephen Curry, the league’s top scorer, had a quiet night with just 13 points. With his team up by double-digits he played little in the fourth period.
Guard Klay Thompson helped fill the void, posting his ninth game this season of 30 or more points with 34.
Clippers blow out Bulls
Reserve guard Jamal Crawford scored 26 points as the Los Angeles Clippers’ bench came up big in a 120-93 victory over the visiting Chicago Bulls.
The Clippers reserves outscored the Bulls bench 58-18, following up on a Friday contest in which the Clippers’ second unit out-scored the Los Angeles Lakers reserves 56-25.
“We were so down after that Toronto game because for a month that’s not who we’ve been,” said Crawford, referring to a 112-94 loss on January 24 when the Raptors’ backups held a 51-29 advantage over the Clippers’.
“We got our butts kicked that game. We’ve bounced back nicely since then.”
Clippers guard J.J. Redick scored 21 points, hitting all four of his three-point attempts. Point guard Chris Paul had 19 points and seven assists and center DeAndre Jordan added 17 points, 20 rebounds and four blocks for the Clippers, who captured their fourth straight win.
Bulls guard Jimmy Butler had 23 points and Derrick Rose added 20 points for Chicago, who have now dropped four of their last six games.
It was especially disappointing after the Bulls’ strong performance in a victory over the Lakers on Thursday.
“The lack of consistency is very noticeable,” said center Pau Gasol. “It’s nothing new. There’s no discovery here.
“It’s frustrating. But it’s been frustrating… We’re not disciplined. We’re not. That’s it. It’s true. It’s a fact.”
Heating up
In Miami, Chris Bosh scored a game-high 18 point to help the Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks 105-87, Miami’s fourth victory in a row.
It’s the Heat’s first four-game winning streak since superstar LeBron James headed back to Cleveland after the 2013-14 season.
“Now that we’ve passed that, hopefully we can extend it,” Bosh said. “That was like a mental hurdle for us. We jumped it for today.”
Amare Stoudemire had 12 points and 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and the Heat also got 17 points apiece from Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng.