Scenes from sparks not catching

When the Atlanta Hawks (26-34) came into Madison Square Garden tonight for a game against the New York Knicks (36-25), this looked like an easy peach to pick. Both teams would play without their starting point guards (ATL: Trae Young; NYK: Jalen Brunson), but Atlanta plays lousy defense and is a very inconsistent club. If the Knicks could turn this into a grind-it-out affair, victory on their terms was very possible.

But New York struggled from the start, bricking a bunch and lacking enthusiasm. Meanwhile, Jalen Johnson and the Hawks quickly took command of the game. Despite brief moments of hope, including a comeback attempt that narrowed the Hawks’ lead to 11 points by halftime, New York couldn’t sustain momentum. Fueled by second-half efforts from Precious Achiuwa, Josh Hart, and Deuce McBride, New York managed to briefly tie the game in the third quarter, but they faltered again, couldn’t get defensive stops, and lacked the energy to win a shooting contest. Final score: Hawks 116, Knicks 100.

Johnson scored 26 points on 12-of-17 shooting for Atlanta, and Dejounte Murray added 21. For New York, Donte DiVincenzo scored 21 on 7-of-24 shooting, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 19 off the bench, Josh Hart redeemed a laggy first half with 14 second-half points, and Precious Achiuwa scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting.

First Half

The Knicks started out singing the flat-tire blues while bricking their first seven shots. Other than Deuce McBride’s thrilling block of Clint Capela, they mostly went through the motions. Unsurprisingly, the Hawks attained a 16-8 lead by midway through the period. From the cheap seats, we wondered who would spark these lethargic Knicks to life.

Here’s one bright spot, but the spark didn’t catch:

Small forward Jalen Johnson led the Birds, scoring 11 points in his first eight minutes. Through the first quarter, the Hawks had controlled the glass, 17-9, and scored 18 points in the paint. For New York, Donte DiVincenzo started especially cold, making just one of his first ten three-point attempts. After the first 12 minutes, the home team found themselves down, 33-18.

Here’s another nice flicker that failed to start their fire:

Early in Q2, the Hawks advantage reached 22 points. Bojan Bogdanovic chipped in 12-second-quarter points to help New York tread water. Precious Achiuwa showed signs of life, bumping and chumping Johnson to a finger-roll bucket, then adding a dunk that gave the Garden crowd something cheerworthy. (Achiuwa would make all of his first five shots.) McBride, Bogey, and DiVo already swished longballs to cut the deficit to 10 with about two minutes left in the half. Halftime score, Hawks 61, Knicks 50.

Josh Hart looked tired through the first half, recording no points and a team-worst plus/minus of -21. Considering his usage of late, we can forgive a little drag in his stride. Josh would finish his night with 14 points, eight rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks.

Jalen Johnson led all scorers with 17 points. His flock has shot 51% from the field to New York’s 39%. Bogey’s 12 topped the Knicks; Precious and DiVincenzo had 10 apiece.

Second Half

Coming out of intermission, the two teams traded buckets. Precious swatted back Dejounte Murray, which led to DiVincenzo swishing a wide-open corner trey that cut the hole to single digits. Like so:

That fire the Knicks needed? Little by little, Precious, Hart, and Deuce blew life into that tinder. Smoke began to rise. On Sunday, Deuce broke Evan Mobley’s ankles on a primo bit of cookery. Tonight, he showed his hot-dog style yet again. He stands 6’2”, by the way.

Josh Hart displayed more pep, hitting Bogdanovic with a laser assist and then scoring four points of his own. A 17-3 run by New York tied the game at 78 apiece with a minute remaining in the quarter, but five unanswered by the Georgians and our heroes down again, 83-78, heading into the final frame.

Alec Burks scored the first four of the fourth for New York. Trading buckets would not suffice, however, when what they needed were defensive stops. Jericho Sims did his part, rebounding like mad, grabbing back-to-back O-boards before flushing a putback dunk.

In a blink the ‘Bockers fell behind by nine again. Once again, Josh Hart showed up with a clutch bucket, this time a three-pointer with seven minutes left. Dejounte Murray, who shot something like 25% from deep over his last five games, answered with his own. Overall, he shot 4-of-9 from downtown tonight. Players get hyped for the Mecca.

As the clock dwindled, the Hawks went on a 14-3 run, and that was all she wrote.

Up Next

The Orlando Magic pay a visit for Friday Night Knicks. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

Box Score