OAKLAND, Calif. _ This once marked the place that caused opponents to lose their hearing and composure. Instead of opposing teams becoming uncomfortable at Oracle Arena this season, the Warriors have become too comfortable in their own venue.
There, the Warriors have played down to sub. 500 opponents. They can become lazy with their passes, inaccurate with their shots and undisciplined with their execution. And such things have either led to underwhelming losses or wins that featured inconsistency.
In the case of the Warriors' 123-112 victory over the New York Knicks on Tuesday at Oracle Arena, the Warriors (38-10) secured a home win by rectifying their early-game mistakes.
Warriors guard Stephen Curry led the team with 32 points on 9 of 19 shooting and 8 of 15 from 3-point range, after finishing the first half shooting 3 of 10. Warriors forward Draymond Green provided the usual versatility (12 points, six assists, five rebounds) after going scoreless on one field-goal attempt in the first half. And after the Knicks (21-27) held a 60-58 halftime lead by shooting 52.3 percent and outrebounding the Warriors, 22-17, the Golden State outscored New York, 37-22, in the third quarter by shooting 12 of 19 from the field and 4 of 6 from 3-point range.
While New York struggled without star center Kristaps Porzingis (left knee irritation), the Warriors struggled with a full roster. Warriors center Zaza Pachulia had 13 points, which surprisingly outscored Klay Thompson (nine). Though Kevin Durant posted a career-high 14 assists, he only had 14 points, went scoreless in the second half and received an ejection with 2:50 left in the game for arguing calls.
"Something went wrong this year," Green joked beforehand. "Maybe the crowd ain't loud enough."
The Warriors have gone 17-6 at home, which pales to their current road record (21-4) as well as their performances at home in 2014-15 (39-2), 2015-16 (39-2) and 2016-17 (36-5).
"That's the challenge," said Green, mindful of the Warriors' two NBA championships in three consecutive finals appearances. "When you're on the run like we are on, the challenge is to be able to get up for those games and stay engaged with the process of getting better each time you step on the floor."
