Tired Knicks commit 16 turnovers, fall to Hawks in final game of road trip
Knicks guard Josh Hart (3) goes up for a jump shot while guarded by Atlanta Hawks guard Keaton Wallace (2) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Atlanta. Credit: AP/Jason Allen
ATLANTA — It was the last stop on a nine-day, four-game excursion and if the Knicks seemed as if they were exhausted, maybe staying up on election night like much of the nation, it was showing.
A step slow much of the night, the Knicks matched a season-high 16 turnovers and still they found themselves fighting and scratching to try find a way to close out the trip. But a late lead disappeared as they faded down the stretch for the second straight game, suffering a 121-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks were outscored 16-6 over the last 2:12. The loss sent them home with a 2-2 record on the trip and a 3-4 record overall.
“We’re trending in the right direction,” Jalen Brunson said. “I think for us we can’t really focus on the opinions of people outside of the organization. We have to focus on what we believe is going on, what we believe is right. How can we fix it together. We see each other every day, we work with each other every day. So we know what’s going on in between these lines.”
Brunson was frustrated much of the night and Josh Hart was hit with a technical foul for the second straight game. But when it mattered most they found a way. Karl-Anthony Towns drained a three-point field goal for a five-point lead and then swatted a Trae Young layup, soaring to block it with 2:46 to play. It was whistled for goaltending, but Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau challenged the call and it was reversed on replay.
The Knicks still couldn’t shake the Hawks. Atlanta's Jalen Johnson drained a corner three and then rookie Zaccharie Risacher, who had a career-high 33 points, scored in the lane to tie the score with 1:31 remaining.
Brunson went to the line with 1:20 to play and missed the first before giving the Knicks a one-point lead again. But Clint Capela drained a pair and the Knicks were trailing by one entering the final minute.
Towns, who had 34 points and 16 rebounds, missed a corner three and the Hawks rushed the ball up the floor, Trae Young finding Capela for a dunk and a three-point lead with 46.9 seconds remaining.
Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau had warned before the game, “You never let your guard down. Usually that’s when teams are most dangerous. You have to make sure you’re ready to play. Trae is going to create a lot of offense for them. The way they run the floor, the transition part, the easy baskets on the board.”
Brunson missed a three on the other end and Risacher fell out of bounds with the rebound . The call originally was signaled as Knicks ball. But another official, J.T. Orr stepped in to call a loose ball foul on Hart.
That sent Risacher to the line where he converted the first and when he missed the second the rebound bounced out to Young, who was fouled and hit a pair for a 117-111 lead.
Young, speaking on the court afterward, said, "That was too close. I hope those New York fans exit real quick.”
Struggling to shake the defensive pressure of Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels, Brunson finally began to find an opening in the third quarter. He drove into the lane for a layup, then fed Deuce McBride for a three-pointer. He then tied the score at 85 with a drive and followed with another pull-up near the basket to push the Knicks in front. The teams went to the fourth quarter tied at 89 after Jalen Johnson followed up a missed dunk at the buzzer.
It was another play where the Knicks were caught flat-footed — something they’d seen when watching the film from the last game.
“Just that they were a step quicker than us in the first half than anything,” Brunson said of the loss in Houston. “How we finished the second quarter is how we should’ve been playing. We played behind the entire game and it’s tough, especially on the road. We just have to be ready from the jump.”
The Knicks found themselves in a 7-0 hole to begin Wednesday night's game. They missed their first five shots. By the end of the first quarter they’d turned the ball over six times.
The Knicks misfired on nine of their first 10 shots beyond the arc, but turned that around and seemed to turn the game around. They connected on eight their next 10 three-point attempts with a boost from McBride and Tyler Kolek, who each hit a pair of threes off the bench.
Towns had 20 points in the first half, including giving the Knicks their first lead of the night with 5:20 remaining in the first half as he drove through the defense for a conventional three-point play and then followed with a three-point field goal.
The Knicks tied a franchise record for a half with 14 three-pointers but still trailed at the half 65-61.
The Knicks defense couldn’t find a way to slow down the Hawks rookie, No. 1 overall pick Risacher who had 22 points in the half on 8-for-11 shooting,. The 22 points were more than he’d scored in any complete game this season and the most in a half by a Hawks rookie since at least 2002-03.
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.
