The New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 119-110, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Madison Square Garden. Even though the Hawks shot 47% from the field and 13-30 from beyond the arc, turnovers led to their demise. Atlanta turned the ball over 23 times, resulting in 29 New York points. This allowed the Knicks to put up 18 fastbreak points, despite ranking 25th in the NBA in pace. Jalen Brunson had struggled in the first two matchups, but he and Mikal Bridges led New York’s attack. Brunson scored 34 points on 12-18 shooting, while Bridges shot 6-7 from the field in the third frame to finish with 26 points.
Head Coach Quin Snyder made an interesting change to the starting five in this game. He inserted Onyeka Okongwu in to starting lineup over Clint Capela. Okongwu had collected three-straight double-doubles before putting up 14 points and nine boards against New York. It will be interesting to see if this was a matchup-based decision or more of a longterm solution moving forward. Okongwu and Clint Capela guarded Karl-Anthony Towns effectively, holding him to 13 points and nine rebounds.
The Hawks started off strong, opening up a 10-point lead on the back of shooting 6-8 from the field. However, turnovers kept them from building out a larger lead. Atlanta defended the three-point line well, keeping the Knicks from taking any triples before Brunson hit back-to-back threes with 3:45 left in the frame. He sparked an 8-1 run for New York to cut the Hawks’ lead to 27-26 after the first frame. Atlanta turned the ball over seven times, while the Knicks committed six.
Combining the end of the first and start of this frame, the Hawks went six minutes without a field goal until Trae Young hit a three at the 9:26 mark. The Knicks’ ball pressure forced the Atlanta into turnovers, preventing the visitors from establishing an offensive rhythm. New York took a six-point lead, but the Hawks quickly tied the game at 41 points. While the Hawks struggled on offense, the Knicks fouled Atlanta a lot. This gave the visitors free points at the line, and they took advantage. The Hawks ended the first half on a 7-0 run for a 62-54 lead when Okongwu beat the buzzer on a hook shot. The Hawks turned the ball over 13 times, but their defense kept them in the driver seat.
This trend stopped in the third frame. New York opened the half on an 11-2 run to take a two-point lead. Atlanta could not stop the home team, as New York put up 40 points in quarter on 17-27 shooting. The Hawks only had three turnovers, but their first-half defense eluded them over the final 24 minutes.
In the fourth frame, De’Andre Hunter got going, attacking mismatches. He took advantage of his size against Landry Shamet, going on a mini 5-0 run to tie the game 94. However, the Knicks responded with a 9-1 run right after. The Hawks did not break the paint consistently in the fourth, leading to tough perimeter shots. Once the Knicks were up 110-100 with five minutes left, Atlanta never made it a two-posession game.
Young scored 27 points on 6-12 from beyond the arc but had nine turnover compared to six assists. Hunter dropped 22 points (7-14 FG) off the bench.
The Hawks will look to bounce back when they play the Detroit Pistons on Wednesday at State Farm Arena.
