Stephen Curry was the first to get up from his bench, with about 8 minutes remaining. While Steve Kerr took a timeout, Tom Thibodeau reacted immediately to the upcoming return to play of the leader opposite by dismissing the man responsible for slowing him down, Miles McBride. The latter therefore barely had time to breathe on his bench during this trip to the Warriors.
“ I didn't notice it until I looked around the field and realized, 'Ahh, OK, OK. Yes, that's logical. But having the confidence of the coach is great, knowing that he trusts me to defend against the best shooter in the world », Appreciates the back of the Knicks, mobilized for… a little less than 47 minutes of play, where his teammate Josh Hart played the entire match.
His start last night, the 6th this season, was directly linked to the absence of OG Anunoby, again injured in the elbow. A replacement that is not obvious at first glance, as the physical profiles are so different, but who convinced even the opposing coachSteve Kerr: “ Tom made a good choice in starting McBride in OG's absence, putting McBride on the field to stretch him. And then he set off. »
A great start materialized by five 3-point baskets in the first period, played in full, and 19 points scored. Which was already… triple his average over the entire season. This level of confidence would allow him to continue his effort in the second half, to the point of shattering his career record with 29 points (9/13 on shots including 6/9 from distance).
The pride of defending against the best shooter in the world
“ He was clearly huge for us. Everyone is going to look at the stat sheet and see that he shot very well, he was very efficient, but he did it by defending on Steph, by pressing him, by running around him throughout Match. So it's been very important to us and it's something we need », greets Josh Hart, much less skillful, but still author of a triple-double (10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists).
“ Honestly, when I came into the league, that's what I thought I was going to do. No matter what team I was on, unless it was the Warriors, I thought I would always be defending over Steph, over the best players in the league. This is what I'm proud of », displays Miles McBride.
His defensive work did not prevent the Warriors superstar from scoring 27 points, but he needed 20 shots to do so (8/20 including 4/13 at 3-points). “ He chased him all night. He never stops moving. He is in phenomenal shape. Deuce did a phenomenal job », Repeats his coach who, based on the previous meeting against the Warriors, wanted to inject an external threat to relieve Jalen Brunson.
The coach is all the more satisfied with his 23-year-old player as the latter has seen his playing time change drastically in recent weeks, suddenly going from 40 minutes in one match to 10 the next. “ It's not easy to deal with, but he never complained and was always ready » concludes Thibs.
| Miles McBride | Percentage | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Party | Int | Bp | Ct | Pts |
| 2021-22 | NYK | 40 | 9 | 29.6 | 25.0 | 66.7 | 0.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 2.2 |
| 2022-23 | NYK | 64 | 12 | 35.8 | 29.9 | 66.7 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 3.5 |
| 2023-24 | NYK | 54 | 15 | 43.8 | 40.2 | 82.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 6.5 |
| Total | 158 | 12 | 38.5 | 33.6 | 72.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 4.2 | |
How to read the stats? MJ = matches played; Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; Off = offensive rebound; Def=defensive rebound; Tot = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; Pts = Points.
