OAKLAND, Calif. -- Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr admitted his club was far from its best while shooting and playing defense Thursday night.

However, when it came to passing the basketball, the Warriors were perfect for almost 35 minutes, and that was easily enough to dispatch an undermanned opponent.

The Warriors passed circles around the New York Knicks, assisting on their first 36 baskets in a 103-90 victory over the road-weary Eastern Conference squad.

"We are probably lucky we played a team without a couple of its best players. We looked tired and disinterested," said Kerr, whose team was coming off a five-game trip. "We did not look sharp."

Klay Thompson hit 10 of his 17 shots en route to a game-high 25 points, and JaVale McGee dropped in a season-best 17 in a rare start, helping Golden State improve to 7-0 against Eastern Conference teams this season with a fifth straight win over the Knicks.

The Warriors recorded assists on every basket until the string was broken with 1:11 left in the third period on a driving hoop by reserve guard Ian Clark.

"That was the lone bright spot of the game," Kerr said of the ball distribution. "They really look for each other. That's a theme almost every night. That's such a great quality to have as a team."

The 41 total assists gave Golden State (23-4) at least 30 in 19 of their 27 games. No other NBA team has reached 30 more than four times.

The Warriors have topped 40 assists three times this season, becoming the first team to do so since the 1996-97 Chicago Bulls.

Golden State assisted on all but four of its 45 baskets, the first team this season to record assists on at least 90 percent of its hoops.

"I read an incredible stat today," Thompson said. "We have a chance to be the first team since 'Showtime' (the Magic Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers) to average 115 points and 30 assists. That's pretty amazing."

Kevin Durant (eight), Stephen Curry (eight) and Draymond Green (seven) led the assist barrage against a Knicks team that was without Carmelo Anthony (bruised right shoulder) and Derrick Rose (sore lower back).

Durant nearly recorded a triple-double, compiling 15 points and a game-high 14 rebounds to go with his eight assists. The double-double was his 10th of the season.

Green grabbed 11 rebounds and totaled only five points.

Curry finished with a season-low eight points but found time for a season-high 10 rebounds.

"That's the beauty of our team," Thompson said. "Nobody cares about their numbers. Nobody holds the ball. It's fun to watch."

Reserves Justin Holiday (15 points) and Ron Baker (career-high 13) were the leading scorers for the Knicks. New York (14-12) fell to 2-2 on a five-game Western swing that began with a pair of wins.

"Let's make sure we get him healthy," Knicks coach Jeff Hornacek said of Anthony, who missed his first game of the season after seeing his club go 0-10 in his absence last year. "It's not good to keep pushing it when it feels sore."

Anthony and Rose are both questionable for the trip finale Saturday night in Denver.

Kristaps Porzingis, who had totaled 60 points and 20 rebounds in his previous two games, had only eight points and five rebounds in 35 minutes against the Warriors.

"The focus was on him tonight going into the game, to try to limit him. Draymond takes those challenges," Hornacek said. "They did a good job of eliminating any of his open shots."

The Warriors assisted on all 26 of their first-half baskets -- the 46th time a team assisted on all its hoops in a first half in the past 20 years -- en route to a 59-45 advantage, then busted the game wide open with a 14-point run that opened an 83-58 lead with 3:21 remaining in the third period.

Four different Warriors had baskets and four had assists in the run, which featured a dunk and a layup by McGee, 3-pointers by Thompson and Curry, and a three-point play by Thompson.

McGee's previous scoring high this season was 11. He made eight of his 10 shots in his 16 minutes of playing time.

The Warriors hit 45 of their 96 shots (46.9 percent), while New York was held to 41.3 percent shooting from the field.

Brandon Jennings, starting in place of Rose, added 10 points, six rebounds and six assists for the Knicks.

Willy Hernangomez and Joakim Noah had 10 rebounds apiece for New York.

The Knicks hung around early, down just 42-37 at the midpoint of the second quarter, thanks in large part to Curry's scoreless first 18 1/2 minutes. But once the two-time Most Valuable Player got involved, the game quickly got one-sided.

Curry's first basket, a 3-pointer at the 5:34 mark of the second period, began a 17-8 burst. Curry added a second 3-pointer before period's end.

NOTES: The teams participated before the game in a special "moment of joy" tribute to Craig Sager, the longtime TNT sideline reporter who died Thursday. The game was the nightcap of TNT's doubleheader. ... Warriors C JaVale McGee was starting in place of C Zaza Pachulia, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a sprained right wrist. ... Warriors backup PF David West sustained a strained hip in the game. An MRI was scheduled for Friday. ... Knicks SF Carmelo Anthony told reporters before the game his shoulder was bothering him since the first quarter of New York's victory Sunday in Los Angeles against the Lakers. Anthony shot a combined 7-for-31 in his past two games.