Die by the 3. Atlanta 111 NY 99

January 3, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0

“Live by the 3, Die by the 3” goes the old saying.

On a night when the Knicks were without Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson, and Josh Hart — NY went small ball and launched 3’s all night — but on this night, missed most of them — resulting in a 111-99 loss to Atlanta on a Friday night at Madison Square Garden.

At one point Jalen Brunson was 1-8 from 3, OG Anunoby was 0-5 from 3, and Mikal Bridges was 1-9 from 3 as Atlanta built a 26-point lead late in the 3rd quarter. The Knicks launched a 4th quarter comeback — scoring the first 11 pts of the period to pull within 13, and later pulling within 9 pts with 1:32 left — as OG and Bridges finally started hitting some 3’s. But it was too little, too late.

NY ended the night 9-42 from 3 for 22% shooting. Without KAT, Atlanta collapsed on Brunson on his penetrations, making them more difficult although he still had 24 pts on 10-23 shooting. Ariel Hukporti started at center and had 16 rebounds in 28 minutes, with 8 pts. Bridges misfired most of the night until he finally caught fire in the 4th, finishing with 18 pts on 7-19 shooting (3-11 from 3). OG had 19 pts and 10 rebounds.

Atlanta was led by their athletic front line of 6’10 Onyeka Okongwu (23 pts on 9-16 shooting, 3-6 from 3) and 6’8 Jalen Johnson (18 pts on 7-14 shooting with 10 rebounds and 11 assists — a triple double), and shooting guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker who had 23 pts (on 9-20 shooting, 3-10 from 3). Trae Young did not play.

“We just didn’t have it tonight,” said Jalen Brunson afterwards. “I know that’s a terrible, lame ass excuse, but we let shot-making affect our overall gameplay.”

“If the shot’s not falling, where else are we going to hang our hat? It has to be on the defensive end of the floor, and we didn’t get it done throughout most of the game tonight,” said Knick coach Mike Brown afterwards. “I thought we had some good looks that we normally knock down with the guys that are taking them,” he added. “But you can’t take away from what Atlanta did.”

NY falls to 23-11; Atlanta improves to 17-19.

1. Knicks Jumped Out to Lead with Hot McBride

It all started out well for NY — and it looked like it might even be a fun blowout of an evening — as Miles McBride — back for his 2nd game after missing 3 weeks with an ankle sprain — hit his first two 3’s and Brunson added a 3 as the Knicks raced out to an 11-2 lead.

2. Atlanta Takes Lead After 1 as NY Starts Misfiring

But Atlanta fired back, with Okongwu hitting a couple of 3’s, Alexander-Walker hitting a 3, and Okongwu hitting another 3 as Atlanta took a 19-16 lead.

“Tweeted this below in 2020 on Onyeka Okongwu,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. He has an improved face-up game with his ability to stretch the floor, put the ball on floor and can also play with his back to basket at times along with his motor, hits the glass, provides rim protection and a more willing/able passer.”

Okongwu would hurt the Knicks all night, as would Jalen Johnson with his triple double.

Johnson added a couple of buckets for Atlanta, while Guerschon Yabusele — playing one of his better games for NY — provided offense for NY late in the period.

Kristaps Porzingis entered the game midway thru the 1st quarter — playing for the first time in a while as he has been sidelined with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), a disorder of the autonomic nervous system. Porzingis didn’t do much offensively on the evening — finishing with 4 pts on 1-8 shooting (0-3 from 3) — but was a +2 with 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals in 17 minutes.

The Hawks led 33-30 after 1 quarter.

3. Atlanta Leads by 13 at the Half as NY Continues Misfiring

Dyson Daniels and Zaccharie Risacher added to the Atlanta offense early in the 2nd — and NY continued to spread their players at the 3-pt line, and fire up and miss 3’s.

Luke Kennard came in to be a pain in the ass all night off the bench with 12 pts on 4-5 shooting (2-3 from 3). NY wasn’t getting much inside and was misfiring from outside — and Atlanta moved out to a 60-47 lead at the half.

4. Atlanta Runs the Lead to 26 Pts in 3rd Quarter

And then it got worse as Atlanta ran off an 8-2 run to start the 3rd quarter and take a 19-pt lead at 68-49.

The Knicks were playing on their heels all quarter, as Atlanta continued to hold the 20-pt advantage and push it to 26 late in the quarter after a Nickeil Alexander-Walker 3 and a couple of buckets inside by Okongwu. Atlanta led 94-70 after 3.

5. NY Scores First 11 Pts of 4th — But Rally Stalls

The Knicks finally showed life at the start of the 4th quarter — again with Tyler Kolek in the game, orchestrating. Mikal Bridges finally hit a couple of buckets in a row — an 11-foot fadeaway and a 9-foot floater, then OG scored on a drive off a Bridges assist, Kolek scored on a drive, and OG hit a 3 and NY was down 94-81 as the Madison Square Garden crowd got loud.

Ariel Hukporti was grabbing rebounds inside, and Mohamed Diawaras was playing excellent defense — Alan Hahn mentioned on the broadcast that Diawara was staring into the eyes of the guy he was defending.

Diawara played great defense. Photo courtesy NY Knicks.

Rally-Killing Exchange

Then Hukporti blocked an Okongwu drive and Kolek fed Bridges for a drive — that he missed — the ball going the other way, where Luke Kennard hit a 3 and Atlanta was back up by 16 at 97-81 — killer.

Then OG missed a 3 and Kennard hit Another 3 and Atlanta was back up by 19 just like that — 100-81 with 7:38 left.

6. NY Rallies Again to Pull within 11 with 3:57 Left

The Knicks continued to fight back — Jalen Brunson leading the charge. NY went on a 10-2 run with OG hit 2 free throws, Hukporti hitting 2 free throws, Brunson making consecutive drives, and Bridges hitting a jumper for a 102-91 game with 3:57 left. NY had a chance.

Jalen Johnson hit a huge drive-and-1 to push the lead back to 14, but Hukporti made 2 more free throws to cut it to 12 with 2:47 left.

Bridges — finally — hit back-to-back 3’s to pull NY within 9 with 1:29 left.

But Atlanta had an answer — Okongwu hitting consecutive drives and it was good night NY.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401810334

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