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Lee leads Warriors past Knicks in return to New York

Nov 11, 2010 - 4:51 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Golden State center David Lee scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in his return to New York, as the Warriors held off the Knicks, 122-117, at Madison Square Garden.

Lee spent the first five seasons of his career in New York. He was acquired by the Warriors this summer in a trade that sent Anthony Randolph, Ronny Turiaf and Kelenna Azubuike to the Knicks. The fans greeted Lee with a standing ovation.

"It was very emotional coming back here," said Lee. "I started cramping up in the early second quarter because I had expended so much energy being hyped to go into the game. It was a well played game by both teams and I'm just happy we came out with the win."

Stephen Curry added 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds for the Warriors, who are off to a 6-2 start. Monta Ellis played through a strained lower back and chipped in with 22 points and six assists.

Amare Stoudemire scored 33 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for the Knicks, who have lost three in a row. Wilson Chandler added 27 points and six boards for New York, which got 20 points, six rebounds and six assists from Raymond Felton.

"There were a lot of things that hurt us, but the turnovers were the big one," said New York head coach Mike D'Antoni. "They got 30 points off of turnovers and if you take half of them away we did a good job. We have a lot of work to do, no doubt about it."

Dorell Wright's layup gave Golden State a 107-96 lead with under six minutes to play. New York, though, responded with 11 straight points to tie things up. Stoudemire tallied six points during the burst, including a three-point play to even things at 107-107 with 3:48 remaining.

Chandler's pair of free throws gave New York a 111-109 edge with 2:42 left. After Lee made two foul shots, Felton made two from the charity stripe to keep the Knicks in front by two, 113-111.

Wright responded with a three-pointer at the other end to give the Warriors a 114-113 margin with two minutes to play. Following three missed shots by New York, Wright made a layup to give Golden State a three-point edge with a minute left.

Stoudemire missed two free throws and the Warriors made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

A close first half ended with Golden State holding a 60-56 lead.

The Warriors used a 13-2 run in the early stages of the third to build a 79-62 margin on Curry's technical free throw with 5:45 remaining. New York, though, ripped off 15 unanswered points a short time later to make it close again.

Golden State led 89-81 after three periods.

Game Notes

Golden State swept a home-and-home series with New York last season and has won four straight and 14 of the past 17 meetings between the clubs...New York gave Lee a video tribute before the game...Turiaf missed the game with a sprained left knee...New York made 38-of-43 free throws, while the Warriors went 23-of-32 from the charity stripe...Wright had 15 points and seven rebounds.