Karl-Anthony Towns, Jalen Brunson help give Knicks overtime win over pesky Hawks
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns and Knicks guard Jalen Brunson slap five in the first half of an NBA game against the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday. Credit: Kathleen Malone-Van Dyke
As the Knicks headed to the All-Star break it only made sense that they would rely on the two players bound for starting roles in Sunday’s All-Star Game to provide the necessary heroics to carry the team to one more win. But first they had to get past the just-named All-Star and Madison Square Garden villain, Trae Young.
And they did, Towns following up Tuesday’s 40-point performance with a 44-point effort, taking turns with Jalen Brunson, who had 36, to provide the offensive punch and just enough game-saving plays in a 149-148 win over the Atlanta Hawks to send the Knicks on vacation with a 36-18 record.
“The whole challenge,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said before the game, “Is not to go on the All Star break before the All Star break.”
But they wouldn’t get to board the plane to San Francisco or the tropical locales other players had in mind until they had survived five more minutes. In the end, after all of these points, it took one defensive stop to let the Knicks go to the break with a hard-earned victory.
“Just it’s great to go into the break on the win, no matter how we got it or what happened,” Brunson said. “I’m just happy we fought through regardless of what we did positive or negative. We came away with a win.”
“I think it's huge,” Thibodeau said. “Obviously we didn't play as well as we would like, but I love the resolve to have the things that happened at the end of the game to go into overtime and just find a way to win, and that’s what this team has done all year. We're scoring a lot of points. But obviously there's room to improve, too.”
The Knicks never trailed in regulation, but after trailing by as many as 18 points and by six with less than 10 seconds left in regulation, Atlanta tied the score with 2.9 seconds left to force overtime.
And Young gave Atlanta the lead finally by starting the overtime session with a bucket. Caris LeVert buried a three in transition and the Knicks were reeling. But Towns followed a Brunson miss and Bridges swiped the ball from Young. Brunson hit a pair from the line and then scored ahead of the pack for a 143-142 lead
After missed opportunities by both teams Josh Hart was fouled, bouncing the first one through before giving the Knicks the lead with the second. Precious Achiuwa then dunked on a pretty assist by Brunson for a three point lead with 1:25 to play. Young cut the lead to one again with 1:01 left and Brunson nearly lost the ball, diving on the floor and calling time with 43.1 seconds left and five seconds on the 24-second clock. But after misfiring, the Knicks fell behind again with 24 seconds left on an Onyeka Okongwu pair of free throws.
But Brunson calmly buried a jumper for a one-point lead with 11.1 seconds left. Young could not convert as he drove baseline with Mikal Bridges tightly contesting, but a rebound led to a last shot. Georges Niang was open in the corner for a three attempt. But the shot fell short and the Knicks finally could exhale.
And when it was over they could consider what they’d done. Towns back-to-back 40 point performances made him just the fifth player in Knicks history to do it, joining Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, Carmelo Anthony and Brunson.
Time after time it seemed the Knicks had left Atlanta for dead, huge shots by Brunson and Towns, contributions from Achiuwa, Cam Payne and Hart. But Young answered, hitting a three and the Hawks trailed 124-121. Up by four, the Knicks lost a challenge trying to wipe away a loose ball foul on Hart and Young took advantage, converting a floater to cut the lead to two. After a Brunson free throw, Young misfired on an attempt at a game-tying three from near the logo at center court with 3:08 to play. But the ball went out off the Knicks, giving Atlanta a second chance and Dyson Daniels hit a short turnaround bank shot to close the gap to one.
With a chance for the Hawks to take the lead the Knicks forced a 24-second violation with 2:20 remaining. Achiuwa, who had a season-high 26 points, converted a pair from the line with 2:06 left, but Daniels answered again with a layup and it was down to one again.
This time Brunson, on a night when fans were given foam fingers of his three-point celebration, delivered a clutch three with 1:33 to play, setting off his own celebration.
Young hit a pair from the line as fans serenaded him as they usually do at the Garden, but Brunson answered again with a short pull-up floater on the baseline with 1:08 left. After a timeout it was Young once again, driving for a tough layup. Brunson missed a long stepback jumper, but Achiuwa grabbed the rebound and converted a layup with 29.4 seconds left and after Atlanta came up empty, Hart went to the line with 18 seconds left and hit a pair of free throws.
The Hawks had one more push — a corner three by Niang cut the lead to one and Towns' inbounds pass under the basket was stolen by Daniels, who was fouled with 7.7 seconds left. He hit the first, but when he missed the second he grabbed his own rebound and Young was fouled in a scramble with 2.9 seconds left. Young drained both shots to tie the score.
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.
