Knicks knocked out of NBA Cup with quarterfinal loss to Trae Young and the Hawks
OG Anunoby #8 of the Knicks drives against Trae Young #11 of the Atlanta Hawks during the first half at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday, Dec 11, 2024. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Knicks insisted that this game, the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup, meant nothing more than any other game.
And maybe that’s a good thing because they can push aside what was just a miserable performance. Maybe they can tell themselves that this elimination game in a midseason tournament was nothing like a season-ending playoff loss. They can forget that it was Trae Young who once again arrived at the Garden and took it over.
The Atlanta Hawks, led by Young but accompanied by a talented young core, simply took over the game in the second half, turning a double-digit deficit into a 108-100 win to advance to the semifinals in Las Vegas. Young finished with 22 points and 11 assists, miming a roll of the dice near the Knicks’ logo at center court when the game was finished, anticipating the Hawks’ visit to Vegas.
“Yeah, for sure. We’re going to Vegas,” Young said. “I shoot dice. I play a lot of games. So that was what I was doing . . . I rolled an eight. And then I picked it up. And then I rolled it again. So I picked up the money after that and we left.”
Jalen Brunson shrugged at the question if it offended him to see that on their logo. “We should win the game if we don’t want him to do that.”
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau was less concerned by the antics than what happened in the game — the Knicks’ performance and the officiating. Asked about the officiating and the physical play, he didn’t mention that one of the refs was Jacyn Goble, who the Knicks still hold a grudge against for a loss in Houston last season, and another was Natalie Sago — and the Knicks are winless in games she’s worked. But he said, “Just looked at who was refereeing and I knew what it was going to be like.”
While the Hawks are bound for Vegas, the Knicks instead will head to the losers’ portion of the schedule, adding a game Sunday night in Orlando against the Magic, who were eliminated Tuesday by Milwaukee. That would be the same Orlando team that the Knicks were blowing out last week and took their foot off the pedal in the point differential math of group play, keeping the Celtics out of the knockout round and allowing the Hawks to be their opponent Wednesday.
“Losing any game hurts,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “Losing any game is disappointing. Food don’t taste good tonight. Sleep’s gonna be tough tonight. I understand it’s the NBA Cup and we’re all excited and we have extra motivation to play these games, especially in the quarterfinals. But every game has such significance. It can’t just be an NBA Cup game where we wake up and take it to another level. It has to be every single game against every single opponent.”
Initially, it may have seemed like a good strategy to schedule Atlanta. The Hawks missed their first eight shots of the game. But the Knicks never could take advantage of the early struggles by Atlanta, and that would come back to bite them in the third quarter.
Towns led the Knicks with 19 points and 19 rebounds before fouling out. Josh Hart had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. But Brunson was held in check by Dyson Daniels, finishing with 14 points on 5-for-15 shooting, and OG Anunoby (13 points) struggled through a 5-for-17 shooting night (1-for-9 from three).
The Knicks had led throughout the game, but the 11-2 start to the first quarter seemed a distant memory when Young delivered back-to-back three-point field goals and the Hawks took a 68-66 lead with 5:43 left in the third. As the chants descended throughout the Garden on Young, he just seemed to grow stronger — two more free throws and then a De’Andre Hunter three upping the Atlanta lead to seven.
The Hawks outscored the Knicks 29-10 to finish the third quarter, turning a 10-point deficit into an 81-72 lead entering the fourth. In the quarter the Hawks outscored the Knicks 34-18, led by Young, who had 12 points, four rebounds and five assists.
In the fourth quarter the Knicks tried to mount comebacks, but every time they cut into the lead they were haunted by a failure to keep the Hawks off the glass. On one possession, trailing 89-82 after a Hart three followed by a Hart offensive rebound and kick-out to Cam Payne for three, the crowd started a loud chant of “De-fense.” Precious Achiuwa swatted a shot away, but the Hawks would get four more shots on the possession before finally getting a layup from Onyeka Okongwu.
“The difference in the game is probably the hustle points,” Thibodeau said. “They shot [41.3%]. We shot [43%]. But the second and third shot, that was a problem . . . The third quarter was a problem. They erased the deficit they had, and that went quickly, and then our energy dipped. It can’t dip. Missed shots are a part of the game. We just got to keep fighting. Win with your defense, your rebounding. We had a couple of turnovers. That was a problem as well.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
