Knicks Lose Possession of Worst Record with Win over Hawks

125. 112. 27. Final. 108

The New York Knicks went into the Philips Arena Monday night and took on a well-rested Atlanta Hawks team. The Hawks rested their whole starting lineup against the Washington Wizards Sunday night. DeMarre Carroll, Al Horford, Jeff Teague, Kyle Korver all returned to the starting lineup Monday night, with Paul Millsap being the lone exception; dealing with a right shoulder injury.

Atlanta jumped out to an early 11-2 lead with an 11-0 run lead by Teague, whom the Knicks could not contain. Teague knocked down a three-pointer and got into the teeth of the Knicks’ defense and kicked it out to open teammates for a couple of assist during the run. Teague finished the first quarter with seven points, three assist and a steal.

More from Daily Knicks

New York took Atlanta’s early punches and punched back even harder. The Knicks responded by converting on the next 12/14 field goal attempts, ending the first quarter on a 30-17 run. The huge momentum swing gave New York a 32-28 lead after one quarter of play. Tim Hardaway Jr. lead the way, scoring 13 first quarter points, scoring eight straight points to put some distance from the Hawks when the game was tied up at 23 apiece.

Hardaway Jr. made it clear how he felt about tanking. As per Al Iannazzone of Newsday Hardaway Jr. responded with this when asked how he felt about his go-ahead three-pointer with 12.6 seconds left Saturday night lowing New York’s chances to land the number one overall pick in the draft.

"“I’m not worried about that,” “I’m worried about the win. I’m happy we got the win. I hope we win the rest of these games. We’re going to go out there and play hard. We’re going to go out there and try to win each and every one of these last games.”"

The Knicks continued to pour it on the Hawks, with Quincy Acy (of all people) going nuts, scoring eight of the ten points during New York’s mini 10-6 run to start the second quarter. The run gave New York a double digit lead with 8:46 remaining in the second quarter 42-32. The Knicks did not let up, as New York lead by as many as 17 points in the second quarter, entering halftime with a 62-49 lead.

The 62 points, tied a season high for first half points scored. New York was red-hot from the field, shooting 57.1%. What is even more remarkable is that New York shot the same percentage from distance, knocking down eight three-pointers in the first half. New York’s guard completely dominated Atlanta by the mid-way point. Here are the stat lines for the guards at the half.

Langston Galloway Stats 13 Pts – 5/6FG – 3/3 3pt – 0/0 FT – 3 Reb – 3 Ast – 1 TO – 0 Stl – 0 Blk

Tim Hardaway Jr. Stats 16 Pts – 6/10FG – 3/6 3pt – 1/1 FT – 1 Reb – 4 Ast – 1 TO – 0 Stl – 0 Blk

Shane Larkin Stats 3 Pts – 1/3FG – 0/0 3pt – 1/2 FT – 3 Reb – 5 Ast – 2 TO – 1 Stl – 0 Blk

Atlanta quickly got the deficit to single digits, going on a 9-5 run out of halftime, led by Horford who scored six straight points to trim the Knicks’ lead to 67-58. Then just as New York was extending their lead to as many as 14 in the third quarter, Teague scored eight straight points to keep the deficit manageable 78-68. Teague finished the game with 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 9 assist. Teague’s fellow teammates stepped in, going on a 10-2 run to finish up the last three minutes of the third quarter, cutting Atlanta’s deficit to five points 83-78.

With the game tied at knotted up at 87, three straight three-pointers gave New York a 96-87 lead with 8:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Galloway knocked down two of the three-pointers, going perfect from beyond the arc Monday night 6/6. Galloway finished the game with a career 26 high points.

More from Knicks News

Atlanta would cut the deficit to as little as one point with 19.5 seconds left in the game on a barrage of threes in the fourth quarter. The Hawks knocked down six three-pointers in the final period, playing catch up the whole time. Atlanta fouled to prolong the game and sent last game’s savior (destroyer/anarchist depending on your point of view on tanking) Hardaway Jr. to the line. Hardaway Jr. split the free throws, giving the Hawks a chance to tie or take the lead. Out of Mike Budenholzer’s timeout, Teague got into the paint but could not convert on the short shot. Jason Smith was fouled and sealed the Knick’s victory.

New York assisted on 76.7% of their made field goals. Knicks recorded a season high in assist with 33 Monday night. With tonight’s win and Minnesota Timberwolves defeat, New York no longer is tied for the worst record in the league… I think I speak for all Knicks’ fans everywhere when I say, we are hoping and praying that New York losses to the Detroit Piston Wednesday night.

SERIOUSLY! WHY DID THE KNICKS HAVE TO HAVE THESE STAT LINES NOW!

Langston Galloway Stats 26 Pts – 10/12FG – 6/6 3pt – 0/0 FT – 5 Reb – 6 Ast – 3 TO – 1 Stl – 0 Blk

Tim Hardaway Jr. Stats 23 Pts – 9/17FG – 3/9 3pt – 2/3 FT – 2 Reb – 5 Ast – 1 TO – 0 Stl – 1 Blk

Shane Larkin Stats 9 Pts – 4/7FG – 0/1 3pt – 1/2 FT – 3 Reb – 7 Ast – 3 TO – 2 Stl – 0 Blk

Jason Smith Stats 20 Pts – 7/13FG – 1/2 3pt – 5/5 FT – 9 Reb – 5 Ast – 2 TO – 0 Stl – 2 Blk

Home/Knicks News