The Knicks close out an ugly one in Atlanta that nearly turned our basketball-loving hearts into stone.
I’m not feeling too well today. Woke up with my throat irritated and a fever. I’ve sucked down about 15 cups of green tea and I’m not really a green tea kinda guy. I was, however, looking forward to watching this game, because I like basketball and, unlike most of P&T, I also like the Knicks. I’m sorry for this betrayal.
Very quickly after tip-off this game had me questioning my love for basketball.
The first quarter started with the Knicks completely outplaying the Hawks and, despite foul trouble for Frank Ntilikina and Damyean Dotson, they jumped out to a sizeable lead. They also were getting to the line at an surprisingly high rate.
This is fucking great, right? The Knicks never get to the line at a high rate! For as long as I can remember the Knicks have been complete and utter shit at drawing fouls. What a delightful and unexpected plot twist.
Well, it would have been except the Knicks, like all the Knicks, decided that they were going to not make free throws. Despite getting to the line approximately 246202348 times in the first two quarters for a variety of Hawks’ transgressions, the Knicks finally converted on a pair midway through the second quarter courtesy of Enes Kanter (more on him later).
The Knicks’ generosity allowed a Hawks team that looked ready to roll over hang around, finally connect on a few triples, and eventually take the lead. They pushed the lead out to as many as 7 in the second quarter before the Knicks closed the gap and headed into halftime down just 3.
The Knicks finally stopped tripping over themselves in the third and bullied the Hawks on both ends of the floor. They executed offensively, swinging the ball around nicely for treys, in-rhythm post-ups and drives to the rim, putting up 35 points in the frame while they suffocated Atlanta defensively in holding them to just 18 points.
Entering the fourth quarter up 14, the Knicks extended the lead out to 16 and seemed well on their way to an easy victory before spending what seemed like half the quarter farting away possessions and capitulating easy bucket after easy bucket on the other end. Just when it seemed the Knicks were going to collapse entirely, Ntilikina hit a clutch three off of an Emmanuel Mudiay offensive rebound to push the lead out to 7 and give the Knicks some much needed breathing room.
Although the Hawks were able to cut the lead to 4 on several occasions down the stretch, they never were quite able to make it a one possession game. A steady stream of Tim Hardaway Jr. free throws down the stretch helped ease the nerves as the Knicks ultimately closed out their fourth win of the season.