Julius Randle, Jalen Brunson Lead the Knicks Past the Hawks in Atlanta

Atlanta is now 0-2 this season against the Knicks

For the second time this season, the Hawks and the Knicks squared off. Both teams have aspirations of being among the top teams in the Eastern Conference. 

After missing the game last night against the Detroit Pistons, Trae Young was back in the starting lineup for Atlanta alongside Dejounte Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Jalen Johnson, and Clint Capela. 

The Knicks were missing RJ Barrett tonight and that was a big loss. Barrett had 26 points in the last game against Atlanta and has arguably been the best offensive player on New Yokr this year. Josh Hart got the start in his place and he was joined by Jalen Brunson, Quentin Grimes, Julius Randle, and Mitchell Robinson. 

Last game, Atlanta got off to slow start in the first quarter and allowed the Knicks to hit 20 three pointers in the game. Brunson was a huge part of that and without Barett, he was going to have more offenisve responsibility. 

It was not Brunson that came out on fire though, it was Randle. 

Randle scored 14 points in the opening quarter and the Knicks jumped out all over the Hawks for the second time this season. New York led 24-15 with 3:49 and the Hawks needed a timeout. New York is one of the best rebounding teams in the league and that was on full display early as the Knicks held a 10-4 edge on the boards. 

Bogdan Bogdanovic was the first sub in along with Saddiq Bey and they both played crucial roles in this game. 

At the end of the first quarter, New York led 34-22. It was another poor performance in the opening quarter for Atlanta and it was mostly due to shooting 14.3% from three while the Knicks shot 44% from deep. 

Julius Randle scored 14 points for the Knicks in the first quarter against the Hawks / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The second quarter belonged to Atlanta though. 

The Hawks opened the quarter on a 12-6 run and trailed 39-24. The big reason for the big quarter was Bogi and Bey. Both of them carried the Hawks offense in the first half with Murray and Young not shooting it as well. After trailing by 11 in the opening quarter, the Hawks trailed 57-56 going into the half and played a great second quarter. 

At the half, Atlanta was shooting 57.9% from the floor against one of the best defenses in the NBA and they were up to 40% from three. Bogi led the way with 15 points, Bey had 11 and Jalen Johnson had 13. Johnson shot the ball well from deep in the first half. Atlanta had a 124.2 offensive rating in the first half. 

The Knicks shot 47.2% from the field and 35.3% from three. They held a 34-24 edge in points in the paint. 

The third quarter was another close back-and-forth affair. The Hawks led 66-65 before a big swing in the quarter came. Jalen Brunson hit two three pointers and then Randle hit another and it was a 9-0 run for the Knicks that gave them a 74-66 lead. Atlanta would battle back to cut the lead to 87-81 at the end of the quarter. 

The fourth quarter was what it was all going to come down to. 

Bogdan Bogdanovic had a great night off the bench for the Hawks / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

With the Hawks leading 101-99 with less than four minutes left, Brunson hit a three to take the lead. The starters for the Hawks were in to close and Immanuel Quickley was in the place of Grimes for the Knicks. 

It was 105-105 when Dejounte Murray hit a mid range shot for the lead, but the Knicks responded with a Brunson three to lead it 108-107. After a Murray miss, New York took the shot clock all the way down and Hart hit a bucket to make it 110-107 with 1:20 left. The Knicks had scored five straight to lead it and it felt like they were going to escape Atlanta with another win. 

Then the Knicks fould Young on a three-point shot with 1:13 left and he had a chance to tie the game. He hit all three and we were tied. 

The following possession, the rebounding for the Knicks came back. After a miss from Randle, Hart grabbed the rebound and got it back to Randle who hit the layup with 40 seconds to go. Young was fouled on the other end and went back to the line to shoot two free throws. He split the pair and the Knicks led by one. Robinson got a big dunk on the other end and it was a three point lead for the Knicks with 18.8 to go in the game. 

It was Young, Bogi, Murray, Hunter, and Capela in after the timeout. Murray hit a quick layup to make it 114-113. The Knicks inbounded the ball and Randle got it to Quickley, who was fouled with 8.9 seconds left. Quickley hit the pair and it was once again Hawks ball down three. 

Johnson replaced Hunter and the Hawks drew up a play to get the ball to Bogdanovic. Bogi got it but missed the shot and it was out of bounds. The Knicks tried to inbound the ball, but turned it over and Atlanta was going to get another shot. New York opted to foul Murray and he went to the line down three with 3.9 seconds remaining. He made the first and missed the second intentionally, but the Hawks were called for a lane violation and then the Knicks were able to run out the clock. 

Atlanta shot 54.7% from the field and 38.7% from three. Bogdanovic led the way with 28 points, Johnson had 18, and Young had a double-double with 15 points and 17 assists. Young was 4-12 from the field and 0-4 from three. 

New York shot 47.9% from the field and 47.1% from three, Randle had a near triple-double with 29 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists. Brunson had 24 points and Quickley had 20 off the bench. The Knicks won the rebounding battle 42-30. 

The loss drops Atlanta to 6-5 this season and 0-2 against the Knicks. They are back in action with an In-Season Tournament game against the Philadelphia 76ers. 

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