Golden State Warriors vs New York Knicks Prediction: Struggling Warriors much better

This NBA season has shown how quickly fortunes turn around in a season. Some teams that underperformed last season have risen up, especially the Portland Trail Blazers and also the Sacramento Kings. However, for some teams, this has been a season of downfall and one of those teams has been the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are going to take on the New York Knicks to continue their Regular Season campaign. 

The Warriors come into this game after suffering a 119:130 defeat despite a herculean 50 points night by Stephen Curry. They have now been dealt nine losses in 15 games and their defense has been uncharacteristically off-the-mark. The Warriors' performance away from home has been underwhelming and they have lost all their eight tussles on the road. So far, only Stephen Curry has been consistent and is one of the scoring leaders, but their problems really are on the defensive end.

Jordan Poole has been an enigma too and it seems like he doesn’t have the same energy coming off the bench, searching for a starting role most probably. Klay Thompson has been a bit off-the-mark whereas the Warriors’ bench is the worst in the league in terms of net rating, that bench has no rhythm whatsoever and there can be some trades coming up soon. The team isn’t the same since the departures of Otto Porter Jr., Nemanja Bjelica, and Gary Payton II, which has especially affected the defensive end.

The Knicks come into this game after defeating the Nuggets 106:103 as Julius Randle had a massive 34 points and 11 rebounds outing. The Knicks have started their road trip well, winning two of their games in a row and they still have three more games away from home including this one. They have done well away from home lately, winning four of their last five games in that scenario but their eight-wins and seven-losses record beg for improvement. One of the major issues has been their long-range shooting.

The Knicks have benefitted from the addition of Brunson whose in-between game has been solid but RJ Barrett’s production needs to be better after glimpses of greatness he showed last season. Julius Randle’s numbers are down but he has still been a dependable scorer and rebounder. Evan Fournier is not even 50% of the player he was just a couple of seasons ago whereas the bench of the Knicks needs some improvements. Let us see how they perform in the upcoming window.

• Warriors: OUT: Andre Iguodala. QUESTIONABLE: Jonathan Kuminga;
• Knicks: OUT: Mitchell Robinson.

• Expected Leading Scorers: Stephen Curry(28+ Points), Julius Randle(21+ Points), Jalen Brunson(20+ Points);
• Expected Leading Rebounder: Julius Randle(9-12 Rebounds);
• Expected Leading Playmakers: Draymond Green(8-11 Assists), Stephen Curry(7-9 Assists), Jalen Brunson(7-10 Assists).

The Warriors are now grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their play away from home has been too poor and at this point, they need to make some changes, especially to their bench. The Knicks are a mixed bag thus far and their performances have been typical of the last few seasons but their play on the road has been inspiring. However, they will run into a Warriors that have won six and lost one on the home floor. I believe the Warriors will come up with a big effort here and continue their winning cycle at home. The total points range can be 225-234.