The Atlanta Hawks (1-1) defeated the New York Knicks (1-1) 112-101 on Thursday.
The Knicks had a pleasantly surprising Opening Night offensive outburst, tallying 122 points and doing so on a poor shooting night from linchpin Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star small forward regained his stroke Thursday, albeit in defeat, pouring in 25 points, despite still struggling somewhat from the field on 10-for-27 shooting.
The Hawks capitalized on strong scoring nights from stalwarts Jeff Teague and Al Horford, and a gritty double-double effort from Paul Millsap at power forward. Millsap hauled in 11 boards to go along with his 11 points, which were not easy to come by on a night where his accuracy from the field was subpar. Small forward Kent Bazemore tallied his first five points of the season after going scoreless in the opener, and pitched in five assists. Dennis Schroder provided his usual infusion of offense off the bench, totaling 13 points in just over 18 minutes on the court.
The Hawks evened their record at 1-1 and currently reside in second place in the Eastern Conference’s Southeastern Division. Atlanta heads home to face off against the Charlotte Hornets on Friday.
In addition to Anthony’s 25-point night, the Knicks benefited from offensive contributions on the part of free agent signee Robin Lopez, who chipped in 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting while often matched up against one of the tougher defensive centers in the NBA in Al Horford. Rookie Kristaps Porzingis followed up a strong 16-point, five-rebound opener with a respectable 10 points, eight boards, and three steals. However, with starters Jose Calderon and Sasha Vujacic only scoring in single digits and Anthony struggling with his shot early, the Knicks fell into a 61-45 hole by halftime that they never recovered from.The Knicks fall to 1-1 and second place in the Eastern Conference’s Atlantic Division. They head to Washington for a date with the Wizards on Saturday.
