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Smith and Knicks ease past Warriors

Mar 31, 2014 - 4:31 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - J.R. Smith scored 21 points and Carmelo Anthony added 19 as the New York Knicks took an 89-84 win over the Golden State Warriors.

Amare Stoudemire and Tim Hardaway Jr. both scored 15 points, with Stoudemire also grabbing 13 rebounds for the Knicks, who sit just one game behind the Atlanta Hawks for the final spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

"We just battled. We did it, we gutted this one out. I thought in the second half we did a great job with their guards and we took advantage of the mismatches on the offensive end," Anthony said.

Stephen Curry scored a game-high 32 points, Klay Thompson added 15 and Andre Iguodala finished with 12 points, six assists and five rebounds for the Warriors, who have dropped two of their last three.

Hardaway knocked down a pull-up 3-pointer with just over four minutes remaining in the game to give the Knicks an 81-75 lead. The Warriors, though, scored six straight to tie the game. Curry capped the surge with a triple at the 2:42 mark.

After forcing a New York turnover, Curry attempted another 3, but came up short. The ball bounced off several players under the basket and Curry came up with the loose ball and threw up a wild running shot that was way off target. Jermaine O'Neal corralled the rebound, but was whistled for a loose ball foul and Stoudemire knocked down a pair of free throws.

After Iguodala missed a tough turnaround on the other end, Anthony, who had missed six straight field goal attempts earlier in the quarter, buried a jumper from the left wing for an 85-81 lead.

Thompson hit a deep 3-pointer from the right wing to pull the Warriors within a point, but Anthony was fouled attempting a tough jumper and hit the subsequent free throws for an 87-84 lead with 45 seconds left.

Curry missed a trey on the ensuing trip down court, but Iguodala made up for his foul just moments earlier and stripped Anthony on the baseline to help force a shot clock violation with five seconds left.

The Warriors inbounded to Curry who rose up for a tough 3-pointer, but at the last second threw a pass to Draymond Green at the top of the key. Green couldn't handle the pass and Shannon Brown secured the loose ball and took off down court before he was fouled with 0.9 seconds left.

The play was ruled a clear path foul, Brown made both free throws to seal the win.

Golden State jumped out to a 32-22 lead after 12 minutes, but the Knicks outscored the Warriors 34-12 in the second to take a 56-44 edge into the break. Golden State was just 5-of-21 from the field in the period.

"We had breakdowns defensively. They have guys that can score the basketball and when they get it going they're one of the best at their position offensively. That second quarter killed us," said Warriors coach Mark Jackson.

The Warriors pulled within six late in the third, but the Knicks carried a 74-66 advantage into the final frame.

Game Notes

New York outscored Golden State 34-24 in the paint ... There were just four ties and two lead changes ... Curry was 6-of-12 from 3-point range in the loss.