ATLANTA — State Farm Enviornment will need to have run out of rooster. The one menu merchandise was barbecued hawk.
The Knicks put the Hawks on an open hearth on Saturday, leaping out to a 25-point halftime lead in a 121-105 victory for win No. 49 of the season. They’ll have a chance to safe win No. 50 for the second season in a row within the second leg of a back-to-back in opposition to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday — a recreation Jalen Brunson is anticipated to make his return after lacking a month of motion as a result of a sprained proper ankle.
The Knicks scored 78 factors within the first half: 38 within the opening interval, adopted by a monster 40-22 benefit within the second quarter. Their 78 factors on the half marked the second-most New York has scored in any half this season, trailing solely the 83-point second half in opposition to the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 27.
“I think we were just focused, locked-in, obviously we knew we had to bring it with an early start to the game,” ahead Josh Hart added.
The Knicks additionally made 13 of their first 18 threes and completed the sport 15-of-29 from downtown. It was their fourth-most environment friendly three-point taking pictures efficiency of the season.
Not unhealthy for a workforce nonetheless lacking its captain, its sixth man (Miles McBride – groin) and its defensive anchor (Mitchell Robinson – left ankle damage administration), although the Hawks have been with out key items Jalen Johnson, Clint Cappella, Kobe Bufkin and Larry Nance Jr.
“We have a lot of great shooting,” stated OG Anunoby. “Landry [Shamet] can really shoot. Delon [Wright] can shoot. Cam [Payne] can shoot. KAT [Karl-Anthony Towns]. Everyone. Josh. So we have a great team of shooters and everyone is shooting with confidence and it’s contagious.”
The Knicks didn’t have to make a journey to Magic Metropolis to search out some wings. As an alternative they introduced their very own — and so they have been sizzling.
Anunoby and Mikal Bridges mixed for 32 first-half factors and 44 on the night time to assist the Knicks construct a 34-point lead out of halftime. Karl-Anthony Cities scored a game-high 30 factors to go together with 11 rebounds on 10-of-15 taking pictures from the sphere.
The Knicks robust protection continued on Saturday, holding all Hawks aside from Trae Younger (16 factors, 5-of-15 taking pictures from the sphere) to 14 factors or much less.
“[We were] just tied together. I thought a good aggressiveness on the ball and then good help, great effort, second and third effort,” stated head coach Tom Thibodeau. “When you’re defending Trae Young it requires you to do more than one thing. You’ve got to fly around and I thought we did that. And then I thought the rebounding was good and then you’re concerned about them because they’re so disruptive defensively.”
Hart stated the sport plan was to get the ball out of the Hawks All-Star’s palms.
“Obviously he’s a hell of a player. We were just trying to make it difficult for him, get him off the ball, and have other guys do the playmaking and getting shots up,” stated Hart. “KAT did a good job in the blitz. Kal’s [Bridges] been doing a great job on him all year, so that was kind of the game plan and we executed it.”
Caris LeVert, Georges Niang and Terence Mann mixed for 41 factors on 17-of-35 taking pictures from the sphere, however Atlanta’s starters mustered simply 52 factors in comparison with 100 for the Knicks’ beginning 5.
“Yeah, we were concerned about LeVert and Niang off the bench,” stated Thibodeau. “If you don’t pay attention they can do a lot of damage. That team is an outstanding offensive team. If you let your guard down at all, they can get 10 in a minute easy.”
Hart fell one rebound shy of his tenth triple double of the season with 16 factors, 11 rebounds, 9 assists and 4 steals, and Delon Wright completed with 10 factors in 29 minutes beginning for the injured Brunson. Cameron Payne returned to the lineup after lacking six video games with an ankle sprain and completed with three factors and 5 assists, and Landry Shamet posted his fifth double-digit scoring efficiency in his final seven video games with 12 factors off the bench.
Regardless of the blowout, Anunoby, Hart, Bridges and Cities every logged 33 or extra minutes, with Thibodeau subbing Anunoby in for Bridges with underneath 5 minutes left within the fourth quarter.
The No. 3 Knicks improved to three.5 video games forward of the fourth-seeded Indiana Pacers, who face MVP candidate Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
A Knicks win in opposition to the Suns plus a Pacers loss to the Nuggets all however seals New York’s playoff standing because the Jap Convention’s third seed, and two extra wins will cement the standing.
“We try to win every game we play. Not just two,” stated Cities. “We got to do a good job of staying focused and finishing out the season strong.”
Initially Revealed: April 5, 2025 at 5:39 PM EDT
