In their last game before the All-Star break, the Knicks handled the Hawks, 122-101, on Wednesday night.
Here are the takeaways…
– From the jump, the Knicks were all over the Hawks, going up 5-0 in the early minutes and never looking back. Julius Randle made shots early and often, scoring 12 points in the first quarter including three three-pointers.
– Meanwhile, Atlanta couldn’t buy a basket for most of the quarter. However, after having scored just 11 points for the first 9:30 of the quarter, the Hawks managed to put up 10 points in the final 2:30, including four points in the final 3.1 seconds after the Knicks fell asleep on an inbounds pass that Trae Young stole before handing it off to Bogdan Bogdanovic who made the basket at the buzzer.
– Still, despite the mental lapse, one that had head coach Tom Thibodeau irate, New York was up 37-21 through the first quarter.
– After his hot start to the game, Randle made way to his teammates in the second quarter. Obi Toppin scored eight points in a two and a half minute span, nailing down two three-pointers and a slam dunk after a missed shot from deep.
– The second quarter was a whole team effort as eight players had at least one made shot and the Knicks led the Hawks, 66-44, at halftime. New York shot 9-for-26 from deep while Atlanta went 1-for-15 from long range.
– The Hawks gave the Knicks a bit of a scare in the third quarter as they brought the 22-point deficit down to 11 points after going on an elongated 27-16 run. In fact, the Knicks went almost four minutes without making their first field goal of the quarter.
– It could’ve been much worse, though, if not for a New York, specifically Randle and Isaiah Hartenstein, 9-5 run that closed out the quarter. After three quarters, the Knicks still had a comfortable 91-76 lead.
– In the fourth quarter the Knicks poured it on. Toppin hit his third three-pointer of the night and Josh Hart also saw some treys go down. Hart finished with 13 points while Toppin finished with 11.
– A Bogdanovic three-pointer with 8:45 left in the game kept Atlanta afloat, but then New York went on an 18-6 run that firmly put the game out of reach. Jericho Sims flashed a slam dunk with less than a minute to go while Quentin Grimes splashed a three-pointer for the icing on the cake.
– Despite shooting a combined 4-of-20 from downtown, Randle, Jalen Brunson and RJ Barrett totaled 70 points.
Highlights
What’s next
The Knicks will have more than a week off during the All-Star break before returning to action on Friday, Feb. 24 to take on the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m.
