The Atlanta Hawks defeated the New York Knicks, 117-111, in Madison Square Garden Tuesday night. Atlanta had lost seven straight regular season meetings against New York until tonight. One star was ready for the bright lights, as Trae Young finished with another masterpiece. New York fans were left speechless as the Atlanta guard led his team to victory.
Young was stellar all evening. His effort defensively was almost more impressive than his 45-point & 8-assist outing. He was stifling his opponents and leading by example for this young Hawks team on the defensive side of the floor. ‘Ice Trae’ gained track on elite company, as he moved into third place all-time for most 40-point games under the age of 25, doing it 23 times, trailing only LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
The Oklahoma product was not left out to dry, as multiple Hawks players stepped up and help secure a crucial win on the road. Bogdan Bogdanovic topped his recent 30-point season-high, by scoring 32 points against the Knicks. ‘Bogi’ was aggressive with everything he did and shot a very impressive 55% from the field. These types of performances make a huge difference on what Hawks team is on the floor.
Kevin Huerter made timely shots to keep the Hawks in it down the stretch. Huerter also played great defense throughout the contest and filled out the stat sheet on his way to 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.
New York was in control of this game late, jumping out to a nine point lead at the beginning of the fourth quarter. Atlanta was struggling to make shots and their star was on the bench with his knees wrapped. Young Knicks guard, RJ Barrett, played excellent on his way to a double-double performance of 30 points and 13 rebounds. Atlanta was able to bottle up Barrett a couple times down the stretch to minimize his impact in the final frame. Atlanta was able to keep pace with New York but hit three consecutive three-pointers to take control of this game for good.
Atlanta heads to Mo-Town to take on the Detroit Pistons. The same Detroit team that beat Atlanta in overtime only a couple weeks back. The Hawks are once again at .500 with a sub-.500 opponent next on the schedule. The team looks to climb above that mark for the first time since early-December. Tip-off for that game is Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. eastern.
