Olympic teammates headline Knicks-Warriors clash
OAKLAND, Calif. -- It'll be Olympic reunion night at Oracle Arena on Thursday when the New York Knicks' Carmelo Anthony and three of his teammates from the 2016 gold-medal winner, all members of the Golden State Warriors, get together for the first time since Rio.
The evening will tip off before the tip-off with Warriors stars Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson getting Olympic championship rings in a ceremony featuring Warriors executive board member Jerry West, a former gold medalist himself, and USA Basketball Men's National Team Director Sean Ford.
Durant, who signed with the Warriors only about a month before leaving for Rio, led the Americans with a 19.4 scoring average in their eight straight wins.
Durant totaled 155 points in Rio, the second-most ever for an American behind his own 156 in the 2012 London Games, bringing his Olympic career total to 311.
Only one American has a higher career total, and, fittingly, he will be on hand to witness the ceremony Thursday. Anthony is the all-time Olympic scoring leader among Americans with 336.
Anthony has been anything but Olympic-caliber in the first three games of the Knicks' five-stop trip. He's shot just 16-for-53 from the field and 3-for-16 on 3s, although 24 free throws has helped him compile a respectable 19.7 scoring average.
The Knicks won two of the three games -- at Sacramento and Los Angeles (Lakers) -- before suffering a 113-111 overtime loss at Phoenix on Tuesday.
New York had won four straight on the road and six of seven overall before the loss to the Suns. They didn't have point guard Derrick Rose for the second half at Phoenix after his ailing back, which forced him to sit out two games last week, flared up on him again.
Rose is questionable for Thursday's game.
Leading the way of late for the Knicks has been Kristaps Porzingis, who recorded double-doubles in the two trip-opening wins, equaled his career high with seven blocks against the Lakers, and was one off his career best in scoring with 34 points against the Suns.
The second-year pro came on strong late in the Phoenix game after having gotten thrown to the floor by Suns rookie Marquese Chriss in a third-quarter altercation.
"He needed it," Anthony told reporters after the game of Porzingis' wake-up call. "Sometimes people try to take advantage of his kindness, and I thought it was getting a little bit too much out there for him, and he reacted. We had his back."
Porzingis might expect more of the same Thursday night from the Warriors' enforcer, Green. He is coming off a dramatic confrontation with New Orleans star Anthony Davis in the final seconds of Tuesday's 113-109 road win.
With the Warriors clinging to a two-point lead, Green stripped the ball from Davis as he attempted what could have been a game-tying shot.
"He's one-on-one against anybody, I'll take Draymond any day," Warriors coach Steve Kerr gushed to reporters after the win. "He's a nasty defender."
A bit too nasty, the NBA observed Wednesday. The league admitted Green should have been called for a foul on the game-saving play, claiming he illegally had two hands on Davis' back before making his clean swipe.
