NEW YORK — Jalen Johnson scored 26 points to lead the Atlanta Hawks to a 116-100 victory over the New York Knicks Tuesday evening.
De’Andre Hunter had 22 points coming off the bench and Dejounte Murray finished with 21.
“It was a team effort. We did a great job of keeping things simple and we came through from the start by playing hard,” Johnson said. “Even when they scored in the third quarter, we kept our composure to maintain that lead. I thought it was huge and a step in the right direction. ”
Donte DiVincenzo led the Knicks with 21 points and Bojan Bogdanovic had 19.
Jalen Brunson, who suffered a bruised left knee early in Sunday’s game at Cleveland, and Shake Milton, who signed with the Knicks on Tuesday, did not play.
The Hawks led by a game-high 22 points early in the second quarter and still led 54-33 when the Knicks went on a 13-2 run to cut their deficit to 10.
Atlanta scored the next five points and led 61-50 at halftime.
They still led 70-55 when the Knicks went on a 21-6 run and tied the game 76-76 on Josh Hart’s short jumper with 1:47 left in the third.
After another tie, the Hawks scored the final five points and led 83-78 after the third.
Hart’s 3-pointer with 6:27 left brought the Knicks within four, 95-91, but the Hawks finished the game on a 21-9 run.
“Their runs were on the offensive glass. We know that’s something they do very, very well and in transition,” Hawks coach Quinn Snyder said. “We really executed on both ends. We gave up a couple threes, but they were contested, which was a big point for us.”
Atlanta scored the first six points of the game and never trailed. The Knicks failed to score until Isaiah Hartenstein converted a free throw at 8:26.
The Hawks led 33-15 after the first quarter as the Knicks shot a dismal 22.2% (6 of 27) from the field and 13.3% (2 of 15) from 3-point range, with DiVincenzo making a dismal 1 on 9 behind the arc.
The Knicks attempted a season-high 52 3-pointers, but made just 16 (30.8%).
“That wasn’t the game plan. It’s just our driving and kicking attack,” DiVincenzo said. “When you look at the whole first half, we looked good, everyone looked open and they weren’t falling. When they started to fall, everyone started to gain confidence and we made these runs. And the fourth quarter just kind of stalled.”
Saddiq Bey scored 17 points and Clint Capela added 13 for the Hawks.
Precious Achiuwa scored 15 points, Hart 14 and Miles McBride and Alec Burks each finished with 11.
FOLLOWING
Falcons: Host Cleveland on Wednesday.
Knicks: Host Orlando on Friday.
