Hawks beat Knicks with big 3rd quarter
ATLANTA — Dennis Schroder scored 26 points, and the Atlanta Hawks used a 30-point third quarter to snap a three-game losing streak and beat the New York Knicks 116-104 on Friday night.
The Hawks, last in the Eastern Conference with a 4-15 record, won at home for just the second time this season by outhustling New York with a 24-5 advantage in second-chance points.
Kristaps Porzingis finished with 28 points and Courtney Lee added 26 for the Knicks, who led by 17 in the first quarter. New York’s bench was outscored 37-16 as Marco Belinelli had 15 points and Ersan Ilyasova scored 10 for Atlanta.
The Knicks, who fell to 1-5 on the road this season, never led after Ilyasova’s 3-pointer with 4:21 left in the third quarter. They had been ahead by eight at halftime.
New York struggled all night to contain Schroder, who easily weaved
through the lane and around the baseline to keep the Hawks’ passing game fluid. He finished with eight assists and often made passes to set up assists.
Lee hit his first eight shots and finished 11-for-14 from the field in his highest-scoring game as a Knick.
Tim Hardaway Jr., in his first game back at Philips Arena since leaving Atlanta as a free agent last summer, scored 22 points. The Hawks showed a brief video tribute to Hardaway, who played the last two seasons with Atlanta, during a first-quarter timeout. Most of the resulting
cheers came from several thousand Knicks fans in the building.
Dewayne Dedmon had 16 points and Taurean Prince and John Collins each scored 13 for the Hawks.
Knicks center Enes Kanter woke up with back spasms Friday and didn’t play. Kanter, who has averaged 13.6 points and a team-high 10.2 rebounds this season, had started in all 17 of New York’s games. Kyle O’Quinn started in Kanter’s spot and had two points and six rebounds in 23 minutes.
Hawks forward Tyler Cavanaugh is proving worthy of extra minutes in a reserve role. The rookie from George Washington University had eight points in 12 minutes. His putback against Willy Hernangomez put the Hawks up 93-89 in the fourth, and then he added a 3 from the left corner to make it 98-89.