Lee's Triple-Double Not Enough to Lift Knicks to Victory
For David Lee, it certainly was a good Friday.
Check that, a great Friday.
In a fast-paced game that featured lots of scoring and passing, without much defensive resistance from either team, Lee scored 37 points, pulled in 20 rebounds and dished out a career-best 10 assists in the Knicks’ 128-117 loss to the Warriors at Oracle Arena. It was the fifth-year center’s first-career triple-double.
“Obviously, that’s pretty good,” Coach Mike D’Antoni told MSG. “No matter how you do it, when you do it, that’s good. And he’s been doing it. He’s been putting up some big numbers even against Portland, against Utah and different people so you kind of give him credit for that. And at the same time, it’s more the pace of the game [that] got him more touches and a lot more chances, and he took advantage of it.”
Lee, who also matched his career best of 37 points set last season against the Warriors, is the 14th Knick in franchise history to record a triple-double and the first since Latrell Sprewell did so on Feb. 28, 2003. Lee completed the accomplishment with his 10th assist – on a pass to Danilo Gallinari off a fastbreak - with 1:28 remaining in the game.
But he would have traded the individual numbers for a victory.
“It’s about getting wins at this juncture of the season when we know we’re not making the playoffs,” said Lee, who finally recorded the triple-double after falling one assist shy twice this season.
Lee was unstoppable from the opening tip as he helped the Knicks build a double-digit lead early on with 10 points and eight rebounds in the first quarter alone. After the Knicks fell behind by as many as 20 in the second quarter, he exploded for 12 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 81-80, the closest New York would get.
“We cut it to one a couple times but just couldn’t get over the hump,” said Al Harrington, who played through an ankle injury to score nine points in his return to Golden State. “That’s the game sometimes.”
Many of Lee’s passes landed in the hands of Gallinari, who finished one shy of his career high with 29 points. Gallinari was also on pace for a triple-double throughout the night, finishing with eight rebounds and eight assists. Chris Duhon and Bill Walkers scored 14 apiece for the New York, which shot 48.3 percent from the field.
Lee, who was named to his first All-Star team this season, has led the Knicks in points, rebounds and assists in a single game nine times this season. The only player in the league to accomplish that feat more times this year is LeBron James, who has led the Cavaliers in those three categories in a game 16 times.
The Knicks end their five-game road trip on Easter Sunday against the Los Angeles Clippers. They return to Madison Square Garden against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.
