PRE-SEASON ACTION
KNIGHTS LOOK GOOD IN OPENER, BUT LOSE TO WARRIORS
NEW YORK 85, GOLDEN STATE 92
NEW YORK, NY (AP) - After the New York Knicks were bought out in June by Floyd Turbo, their old assistant coach, he has totally turned the team in the right direction. On Friday night, they really showed that.
Early in the game, the Knights had jumped out to a 10-2 lead at the begining of the 1st Quarter, but then the Warriors made a huge run scoring 23 unanswered points which Baron Davis had 16 of the 23 scored in that time period. "That is what really killed us in the 1st Quarter. we were great until about 3 minutes left in the 1st Quarter, then our offense began to fall apart from there," commented Knights Head Coach Floyd Turbo.
In the 2nd Quarter, The Knights showed that even after their slow start, they can keep up with some of the best teams in the NBA. Alot of their scoring came from Justin Thompson, the Rookie from Texas, who went 3 - of - 4 from 3 point range and 5 - of - 5 on field goals for the quarter. The Knights really made some good runs, but they still couldn't get the lead back. "Golden State came up with some biug defensive stops which seemed to shut down our offence inside and made us become a team that lives and dies by the 3." commented Knight's Forward Mike Molholt. Going into halftime, the Knights still found themselves down 51-39.
When both teams came out of the Locker Room to play the 2nd Half, you could really see which team wanted to win the most so they could establish themselves in the NBA. The Knights began to chip away at the Warrios' lead and had gotten the lead down to 3 when Baron Davis and Jason Richardson hit back to back three's followed up by a Slam by Jason Richardson which put the Warriors once again up by 11. The Knights tried to shut shut down any offensive production from Golden State, but most of their tries were unsucessful which lead to Western Michigan standout, Zach Stultz, getting in foul trouble along with picking up a technical foul late in the 3rd Quarter.
The whole 4th Quarter, the Knights had to play without Stultz which gave some of the Knight's bench to prove themselves infront of NBA fans around the world. Big Man Small Forward, Darko Stojacovic, played Stultz's spot while he ws out of the game and helped bring the Knights within striking distance. "He has great length and will be a great force in the post in the NBA. That is only if he can stop going outside the whole time," commented the Warriors Head Coach. Stojacovic was able to grab some crutial rebounds and put backs to give the Knights a 3 point lead going towards the final seconds of the game. Unfortunately, the Knights were not able to stop the Warriors' late game attack which lead tot heir First Franchise loss to the Golden State Warriors.
"We learned alot about our team tonight. We definately have scorers we can put on the floor and they can produce. I am very happy with that," commented Coach Turbo, "We need to be able to have an inside presence. We were not able to establish one because Stultz got in foul trouble early, so they made our Bench step up which which we also learned alot. Darko Stojacovic stepped up and had a very nice game in the minutes he played. We just need to fine turn things and we will be a contender I can tell you that!"
------------------
BOXSCORE
KNIGHTS - 85
Justin Thompson - 24 PTS
Adam King - 19 PTS 5 STL
Zach Stultz - 12 PTS 6 REB
Darko Stojacovic - 12 PTS 6 REB
Jamie Xi - 14 PTS 7 AST
WARRIORS - 92
Baron Davis - 38 PTS
Jason Richardson - 25 PTS