The defending Eastern Conference regular season champion Atlanta Hawks had a day off to regroup from Tuesday’s season-opening loss at home to the Detroit Pistons. The Knicks landed in New York early this morning, after an emotional win to start the year in Milwaukee.
The stage was set for a tough matchup, and despite a solid effort that included multiple runs and a few highlight plays, Atlanta was indeed too much for the Knicks in a 112-101 win at The Garden.
Carmelo Anthony rebonded from an 11-point showing in the opener with 25 points to lead all scorers, but he needed 27 shots to get there and the Hawks found the shooting form that propelled them to 60 wins last year — Atlanta shot 41.7 percent from three and 50 percent from the field. Kyle O’Quinn added a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in his Knicks MSG debut.
