Red-Hot Shooting Day For The Knicks Leads to Blowout Loss for The Hawks at Home

It was a day to forget for the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Despite the Knicks missing Jalen Brunson and Mitchell Robinson, New York shot Atlanta off the floor in the first half and then cruised in the second half for as easy of a win as you wil see in the NBA today.

The Knicks offense in the first half and the Hawks' inability to match them is the story of the game. New York led only 38-31 at the end of the first, but was shooting 60% from the field. The game officially got away from the Hawks in the second quarter, when the Knicks outscored them 40-22 and took a 25-point lead into the half. The second quarter was an incredible shooting display from the Knicks as they went 75% from the field and 78% (7-9) from three to put the Hawks away. The Knicks cruised in the second half and the Hawks were never able to make a run.

Atlanta shot 47% from the field, but 31% from three. Trae Young led the Hawks with 16 points and nine assists.

With this loss, Atlanta officially clinched a spot in the play-in tournament for the fourth straight season. The Hawks' main objective now should be to get the No.7 seed in the play-in tournament, which would give them the ability to host the first play-in game and have a win-and-in scenario for the playoffs. The upcoming schedule for the Hawks includes three games against "tanking" teams in Utah, Brooklyn, and Philadelphia, with the most important games coming against Orlando on Tuesday and Sunday.

The Hawks' starting lineup did not change for the Hawks tonight. Trae Young, Dyson Daniels, Zaccharie Risacher, Mouhamed Gueye, and Onyeka Okongwu were the first five on the floor today.

It was a disaster in the first quarter for the Hawks on the defensive end and when it came to ball security. The Hawks turned it over seven times in the first quarter alone, and while the Knicks only scored five points off of those turnovers, they were hot on the offensive end otherwise. New York hit 10 of their first 13 shots from the field, including their first four three-pointers. The Knicks went on to hit 61% of their shots from the field and 57% from three and led 38-31 at the end of the first.

The second quarter can only be described as a disaster for the Hawks.

New York continued to shoot Atlanta out of their own arena and even got the lead up to 31 points. The Knicks had a brief injury scare with center Karl Anthony-Towns, who injured his finger and had to go back to the locker room, but he returned to the bench and continued to play for New York. The Knicks outscored the Hawks 40-22 in the second quarter and led 78-53 going into the locker room.

The Hawks were shooting 44% from the field, but only 27% from three. The Knicks on the other hand were 67% from the field and 69% (11-16) from three. Towns had 17 points for New York while Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby had 16 points. Trae Young had 13 points (all in the first quarter) and Niang had 10 points, including the final basket of the first half. Atlanta had a big hill to climb in the second half.

It was a hill that was far too big too climb. Atlanta played competently in the third quarter, but never made a serious run to win the game. Halfway through the fourth quarter, Quin Snyder decided to pull his starters and that was that.

Atlanta is back at home tomorrow night against the Utah Jazz at 6:00 p.m. ET.

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