OAKLAND, Calif. — The Golden State Warriors started their game against the Knicks on Wednesday night by missing their first six shots. It was an atypical sequence from the Warriors, the N.B.A.’s most dominant team, and the Knicks took the lead. The crowd at Oracle Arena sat in silence. Everyone in the building seemed confused.
For the Knicks, it was a brief flirtation with joy, a sliver of sunshine through the storm clouds of a sad season. And then it was gone — poof! — as Stephen Curry began to throw lobs for dunks, drive for finger-roll layups and assemble his usual brand of basketball sorcery.