Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

After a first glance at the box score, you’d think there’s no way the Warriors should have been in this game. They gave up 57% shooting; were out-rebounded by 9; and of the Knicks 33 missed shots, they offensive rebounded 12 of them.

And yet, if Stephen Curry could have just stayed with Danilo Gallinari in the closing minutes when he hit his dagger threes, maybe the Warriors actually pull this one off. That capped a horrid defensive night for Curry, who also was largely responsible for Ray Felton’s career night (though in fairness, Felton appeared to make a deal with the devil before the game). The defensive back-court problems are no longer about Curry and Ellis being able to play together; they’re now just about Curry.

As usual with Lee out, Monta carried the team with 40 points — though only 3 of them came in the fourth quarter (he still posted a +2, which is tough to do when your team loses and you play 46 minutes). Thankfully, Reggie Williams had his first big game of the season and came up big late, catching on fire from deep on his way to 16 fourth quarter points.

Curry made up for things a bit with his offense, posting 29 points to go with 8 assists and 4 turnovers. But he was woeful in the early going, with his easy misses fueling the Knicks first-half surge, and he badly bricked a three in the closing minutes that stemmed the Warriors momentum and allowed the Knicks to get some separation late.

But he was all-world compared to the production the Warriors got from the power forward position. 8 points and 5 rebounds were credited to the Warriors at the 4 tonight, a far cry from the 28 and 10 that David Lee provided in New York. His elbow can’t recover fast enough. Even my boy Jeff Adrien wasn’t much help, with a couple nice plays but only 4 rebounds in 14 minutes. Stoudamire went for 28, and combined with Felton for 61 points and only 6 missed shots between them.

The bright spot in the front court was Biedrins, who was rolling crazy 8′s with 8 points, 8 rebounds, and a team-high +8. But foul trouble once again limited him to 30 minutes.

The bottom line is that a team can’t give up 57% shooting and expect to win. I think you have to give the Knicks a lot of credit on this one, as they were hitting awkward shots and buzzer beaters all night. But they were also making wide-open shots after good ball movement (Gallinari’s 3′s being the most glaring examples), and this one can’t all be laid at the feet of a good shooting night. Down the stretch, the Warriors had momentum but simply couldn’t get a stop.

The biggest disappointment here is that the Warriors missed a chance at a winnable game right before the start of a tough stretch. They head down to Staples center for an almost guaranteed loss to the Lakers on Sunday night, then play the Nuggets at home on a back-to-back on Monday in a game they’ll likely need to win without Lee to stay above .500.

Upsides? Aside from Randolph’s DNP-CD (and you know he wanted to play in this game), at least we have this to enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U04Uyxf0bNU