After a brutal loss to the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, the Hawks hosted their recent rival,
the New York Knicks, in State Farm Arena on Wednesday.
Hawks fans were once again subjected to watching a mediocre offensive team have a season-best first quarter, as the Knicks scored 37 points in the first, and the Hawks were stuck at 9 points with just 3 minutes left in the quarter. This was the fifth game in-a-row where the Hawks allowed a team to score 30+ points in the first quarter. However, Atlanta showed some semblance of defense, getting multiple steals to end the quarter.
The second quarter started about the same as the first, with the Knicks getting whatever they wanted offensively, and the Hawks blowing just about every open shot they got. A statistic that shows just how bad Atlanta’s defense has been, as Bob Rathbun stated on the live broadcast, Knicks forward, Obi Toppin, came into this game 1-15 from three in his last 5 games. In his first four minutes against the Hawks, he went 2-2 from three.
Atlanta on the other hand started 0-10 from three until Hunter hit his first three 6 minutes into the second. The majority of the first half remained the same, with the score at the end of the quarter 66-46.
The Hawks finally seemed to show life towards the end of the third, with a back-and-forth physical quarter. The referees missed a big hit by Julius Randle that knocked John Collins out of the game, which summed up the officiating of the entire game. The Hawks lost any momentum in the fourth and fell short of any comeback, losing to the Knicks 122-101.
The only bright spot of the day was De’Andre Hunter’s strong performance. Hunter finished with 20
points on good efficiency, but outside of that, it was an all-around terrible night for Atlanta.
As the season has just 22 games left, every game is becoming a must-win if they are to escape the
play-in. The Hawks are done till after the All-Star break when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday the 24th.
