Hawks steal one late over Knicks
NEW YORK » It was a bull’seye for Kent Bazemore.
Bazemore hit a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left that put the Atlanta Hawks ahead Sunday in a 99-96 win over the Knicks.
“It’s just a catch-andshoot situation,” Bazemore said. “We work on plays all the time in practice where we have a guy who drives and kicks it out to somebody in the corner. It’s just a synergy and rhythm thing.”
“I read a book called the ‘Zen in the Art of Archery.’ It talks about just let it go. Let it go and let the energy of the world take care of the rest,” he said.
The Hawks rallied from a 93-87 deficit in the final 2:16.
Bazemore was wide open in the left corner and hit for a 98-96 lead. Tim Hardaway Jr. then stepped on the line trying to inbound, giving the ball back to Atlanta.
After Dewayne Dedmon made one of two foul shots, Hardaway missed a potential tying 3-pointer.
“We don’t know how to finish games. We don’t know how to win games at the end,” Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis said. “We didn’t close out the game strong again and another loss.”
Bazemore led the Hawks with 19 points. Mike Muscala scored 15 and Taurean Prince had 13.
Dedmon finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Dennis Schroeder added 10 points for Atlanta.
Porzingis scored 22 for the Knicks. Trey Burke added 14, Jarrett Jack and Kyle O’Quinn each scored 11, and Enes Kanter finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.
Muscala hit a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to pull the Hawks within one. O’Quinn missed a shot on the Knicks’ next possession and Bazemore followed with his go-ahead basket.
“A great win on the road,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We got the stops late. We always talk about it being 48 minutes. Today it took all 48.” BUCKS 109, NETS 94 NEW YORK » Eric Bledsoe scored 28 points, John Henson had 19 points and 18 rebounds, and the Milwaukee Bucks easily extended their winning streak over the Brooklyn Nets to 10 games with a victory.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo left with an apparent right ankle injury in the fourth quarter, but by then Milwaukee was in control of a game it led by as many as 28 points. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.
Khris Middleton also had 16 points for the Bucks, who improved to 6-1 since firing Jason Kidd and moved a season-best six games over .500 at 29-23.