Knicks Blast Hawks. NY 121 Atlanta 105

April 6, 2025 LouV 2024-25 0
KAT powered inside for 30 pts and 11 rebounds. Phot courtesy NY Knicks.

The Knicks rebounded off of their disappointing loss to the Cavaliers 3 days early by blasting the playoff-bound Hawks 121-105 on a Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.

The Knicks used an aggressive defense and team-oriented offense to blow the Hawks off the court — taking command in the 1st quarter, using 15-0 run in the 2nd quarter to take a 25-pt lead, increasing their lead to 31 pts in the 3rd, and holding a 27-pt lead with 6 minutes left in the 4th before Atlanta made a run to make the final score look respectable.

It was a good day for everybody:

Cameron Payne was back — and he and Delon Wright played over Tyler Kolek, who did not. The Knicks are rounding into form for the playoffs, with Jalen Brunson taking warmups with the team for the first time after the severe ankle injury. Mitchell Robinson got the night off with a back-to-back game scheduled for Sunday.

“Just all around solid on both ends,” said coach Tom Thibodeau afterwards. “The defense got us going. And then we got into the open floor; got some easy baskets. Guys did a good job of making the extra pass and we got some good rhythm shots off of that.”

When asked about that defense, Thibs said NY was “Tied together, good aggressiveness on the ball, good help, great 2nd and 3rd effort. When you’re defending Trae Young it requires you to do more than one thing; you have to fly around. I thought the rebounding was good and you’re concerned about them because they’re so disruptive defensively.”

Atlanta — well coached by Quin Snyder — won the first 2 games of the year against the Knicks — a close loss in November, and the loss in December when Trae Young pantomimed the rolling of dice on the Knicks logo at MSG’s center court — but NY won the last 3 after that — including a win on Trump Inauguration day, an overtime thriller on a Brunson game-winner, and this one.

NY improves to 49-28; Atlanta drops to 36-41.

1. Knicks Take Command in 1st

Atlanta scored the first 5 points of the game — a Trae Young 3 and a 10-footer by Zaccharie Risacher, the #1 pick in last June’s draft. Delon Wright hit a 3 to make it 5-3, but Trae Young hit another 3 to give Atlanta an 8-3 lead.

Josh Hart free throws made it 8-5 and then the Knicks started to lock down the Defense — OG Anunoby blocked Risacher’s drive which led to a Delon Wright drive ahead of the field and NY started to change the complexion of the game.

Bridges hit a drive to put NY up 9-8. They would lead the rest of the game.

Bridges hit a 3; KAT hit a 3 and NY was up 16-12.

OG intercepted a pass late in the period and drove full court for a 25-17 NY lead — the Knicks were off to the races.

2. NY 15-0 Run in 2nd Gives them 25-Pt Lead

NY was up 38-31 after 1, and up 51-41 with 6:30 left in the 2nd when they went on a 15-0 run to put the game into blow-out mode.

Cameron Payne hit a 3, Precious Achiuwa dunked off a Payne assist, KAT scoed inside, OG scored on a drive, Bridges hit a 3, and OG hit a 3 and NY was up 66-41.

3. Knicks Relentless in 3rd and 4th

The rout continued in the 3rd as NY would not let up on Defense and continued to hit rhythm 3’s.

The Knicks’ defense would force Trae Young to shoot 5-15 (3-7 from 3) for 16 pts, and Georges Niang to shoot 5-16 from the floor (3-13 from 3) for 13 pts. Risacher finished with 12 pts on 5-10 shooting.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401705694

 

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