At the start of the Christmas Games, the New York Knicks clearly defeated Corona-stricken Atlanta Hawks. In the 101: 87 success, Kemba Walker and the much criticized Julius Randle and Evan Fournier also convinced.
New York Knicks (15-18) – Atlanta Hawks (15-17) 101:87 (BOXSCORE)
Randle had a double-double in the box score shortly after the break, after 48 minutes it was 25 points and 12 rebounds with 6 converted threesomes. In addition to the forward, Kemba Walker (10, 10 rebounds, 12 assists) was the most noticeable kink, this time playing a triple-double after his 44 points against Washington two days ago. He only managed this feat twice in his career, most recently in April 2014 in the service of the Charlotte Hornets. It was only the tenth Christmas triple double. The others played Oscar Robertson (4x), John Havlicek, Billy Cunningham, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Draymond Green.
New York was hot for almost the entire game, in the end the Knickerbockers had sunk 20 threesomes. In addition to Randle, rookie Quentin Grimes (15) also sank five attempts, and Evan Fournier (15) also had a few good minutes in which the Frenchman hit everything. Center Mitchell Robinson blocked 5 throws and locked the zone.
Atlanta found no solutions to the Knicks’ ring protection and hit 45 percent of the attempts in the zone. For a long time the Hawks even had a better rate from downtown than from the two-man area. The top scorers of the guests were John Collins (20, 8 boards) and Delon Wright (20, 4/5 threesomes), while Bogdan Bogdanovic (8, 2/12) scored little, as in Philadelphia.
New York started really strong, the first seven throws were made, five of them from a distance. The much-criticized Randle was in rhythm despite two fouls, and Walker attacked the basket. The lead was quickly 16 points before the Hawks slowly found their way into the game through some converted triples and a rare five-point game by Bogdanovic.
Knicks win thanks to a good shoot
The Knicks’ lead temporarily melted to -4, but Obi Toppin and later Fournier put in personal runs and generated enough offense for the Knicks. The break started with a 10-point lead. However, the Hawks stayed within striking distance, as they hit weakly from the field, but repeatedly caught hot phases from a distance.
A 14: 4 run by the hosts, in which rookie Quentin Grimes sank two of his five threesomes, gave New York the highest lead of the evening to date (18). Atlanta’s Guard Defense was simply too weak, so that Walker, Alec Burks or RJ Barrett kept tearing gaps. Already at the beginning of the fourth quarter the thing was over, the fans of the Knicks were only looking forward to the Walker triple double, which also completed this middle of the section.
With the win, the Knicks are only one victory behind tenth place, which the Toronto Raptors now take due to the defeat of the Hawks. However, the Canadians have not played a game for almost a week due to numerous corona cases.
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