The Atlanta Hawks won their fourth game of the season 116-104 Friday night over the New York Knicks at Philips Arena.
Here are 10 observations about the Hawks’ second home win this season:
Hawks started second half on an 13-5 run
The Knicks led by as much as 17 in the first half, but the Hawks turned up the heat when they came out of the locker room at halftime and changed the game.
An aggressive 11-5 run to start the second half tied the game at 72, the first tie game since the games’ opening minutes. During the run, Dewayne Dedmon had five points and Schorder had three.
Dedmon finished the game with 16 points and six rebounds.
The Hawks took the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the game with 5:53 left in the third quarter off a two free throw shots by Schroder.
Schroder finished the game with a team-high of 26 points and eight assists.
The Knicks only shot 33.3 percent from the field and 19 points during the third quarter.
Knicks Porzingis, Lee combine for 54 points
Knicks power forward Kristaps Porzingis accounted for 28 of the Knicks 104 points on Friday, shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 4-of-8 beyond the arc.
“They were obviously hot and executing well,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Porzingis got free for a couple of looks early and made them and then kind of had everything going for a little bit.”
In the first half, Knicks guard Courtney Lee posed the biggest threat to the Hawks as Lee only missed one shot in his 19-point first half when he attempted jumper from the field as time expired.
Porzingis scored four points in the fourth quarter because the Hawks were able to figure out how to guard him.
“We had to make adjustments as a team and switch up a couple different things we were doing to guard him and with new energy we figured it out,” Hawks center Dewayne Dedmon said.
Lee finished Friday’s game to the Knicks with 26 points, shooting 11-of-14 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. Lee also recorded two assists and four rebounds.
“Courtney Lee was really a big problem in the first half,” Budenholzer said. “Hopefully, we just stayed a little more connected to them in the pick and rolls and less open looks and be a little sharper. I thought the second quarter we got smarter, got better but there still some defensive breakdowns and the guys kind of clean that up in the third and fourth quarter.”
John Collins continued his scoring streak
Rookie John Collins recorded his second career start on Friday against the Knicks and continued his impressive scoring streak.
Collins scored 13 points and recorded five rebounds and three assists.
Entering Friday’s game, Collins averaged 15.8 points, hit at least 60 percent of his shots and scored in double-figures over the past five games. Over the past four games, Collins was 30-of-39 from the floor.
Collins entered Friday’s game 10th in the league in field goal percentage with 58.2. Dedmon is ranked fifth in the league shooting 61.9 percent from the field.
Hawks struggled shooting early
In the first five minutes of Friday night’s game, the Knicks were 7-of-8 from the field, 3-of-4 from beyond the arc and 3-of-3 on free throws.
By contrast, the Hawks were 5-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc.
Dedmon said the stress of giving up 39 points in the first point forced the Hawks to figure out news ways to guard the Knicks.
“It was more like a feeling of we got to figure this out, we got to get better, we have to figure something, change something up to come out play better,” Dedmon said.
The Hawks also committed four personal fouls in the first four minutes of the game, resulting in three free throw opportunities for the Hawks.
Hawks scored 15 points off 20 Knicks turnovers
The Knicks entered Friday’s game 19th in the NBA in turnovers committed per game (15.4), while the Hawks are one of the best teams at taking advantage of opposing teams turnovers (15.9 opponent turnover per game)
The Hawks committed 11 turnovers on Friday.
Height was a problem for the Hawks
The Knicks’ 6-foot-11 Willy Hernangomez and 7-foot-3 Porzingis were too much for the Hawks to handle when both were under the basket in the first half.
Porzingis had 17 first half points.
Hernangomez spent six minutes at center due to the absence of centers Enes Kanter (back spasms) and Joakim Noah (illness/did not travel).
Knicks shot 76.2 percent from the field in the first quarter
The Knicks early offensive success was due to shooting 76.2 percent from the field and 66.7 percent beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The Hawks, in comparison, shot 40 percent from the field and 28.6 percent beyond the arc in the first quarter.
The Knicks led 39-24 at the end of the first quarter.
“We’d like to start better than giving up 39 in the first quarter, but defensively we found a way to get better,” Budenholzer said. “Guys played harder and competed better. The offense kind of maintained itself throughout the game.
“I thought the second quarter was huge where maybe we could’ve gotten very deep and we were able to compete and find a way to get back in.”
By the end of the first quarter, the Knicks shot 65 percent from the field and 50 percent beyond the arc.
Cavanaugh came in aggressively
Hawks rookie Tyler Cavanaugh came into Friday’s game in the second quarter and immediately added fire to the Hawks defense by fouling Porzingis on a jump shot.
Cavanaugh also helped the Hawks out offensively when he was substituted into the game by attempting six shots and recording three points in his first two minutes.
Cavanaugh also displayed some confusion when he was substituted in, prompting Budenholzer to call a timeout with 2:13 left in the first half.
Cavanaugh finished Friday’s game shooting 3-of-6 from the field, including an impressive 3-pointer in the fourth quarter, for eight total points.
Hardaway returns to Atlanta
Former Hawk Tim Hardaway, Jr. had 22 points in his return to Philips Arena on Friday night.
Hardaway was coming off a 38-point game against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday, a season-best in scoring.
Hawks win second home game
Hawks won their second home game of the season against the Knicks on Friday night, bringing the team’s record at Philips Arena to 2-8.
As a team, the Hawks shot 51 percent from the field— a marked improvement from shooting in the first half— and 31.2 percent beyond the arc.
The Hawks only other home win was against the Sacramento Kings on Nov. 15.
After their loss to the Hawks, the Knicks are 1-5 in away games this season.
They have chance to earn their third home win and fifth of the season on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against the Raptors.
