With a fabulous offensive performance, Dennis Schröder leads his Atlanta Hawks (4-15) to a 116:104 (BOXSCORE) win against the New York Knicks (10-8). Even a 17-point gap won’t stop the Hawks. Kristaps Porzingis und Co. nothing to oppose.
Even without the back problems of Enes Kanter, the Knicks created an offensive fireworks display from the outset. In the first 12 minutes the guests scuttled 76.2 percent of their field throwing attempts, the Hawks’ defence was virtually non-existent. The result was a quick 17-point lead for New York.
Only in the second stage did things go better for Atlanta. Thanks to its own strong offensive actions Dennis Schröder and Co. the gap to 8 points at halftime (59:67) – and after the tea break they continued exactly where they had left off. After a few minutes in the third quarter, the game was even-tempered and at the end of the round, Atlanta even had a tight lead (89:86).
In the early minutes of the final section, the strong Hawks’ reservists even extended this lead to 9 points. A few minutes before the final whistle, the Hawks had the game under control. The Knicks didn’t hit their throws any more, while Atlanta on the other side increased their lead to 15 points thanks to three threesomes from Marco Belinelli (15 points, 5 assists) and Taurean Prince (13 points, 8 rebounds). So the game was over.
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The best man on the Hawks’ side, however, was Schröder. The German outdid himself with a very strong offense and led his team to a comeback victory with 26 points (11/18 FG) and 8 assists. Dewayne Dedmon (16 points, 6 rebounds) and Rookie John Collins (13 points, 5 rebounds) also performed well. A total of seven players from the hosts achieved a double-digit score.
New York couldn’t keep up with that. Kristaps Porzingis (28 points) and Courtney Lee (26 points, 11/14 FG, Season-High) were convincing, but in the second half they didn’t have much to report either. Tim Hardaway Jr, returned to his former place of activity with 22 points and 5 assists. The Knicks’ away draw continues (1-5 on the road), while the Hawks celebrated their first win after three consecutive defeats.
Hawks vs. Knicks: This way to the BOXSCORE!
Dennis Schröder. With his irresistible drives, the German put his stamp on the game. Again and again he found his way into the zone, where he presented himself very effectively (11/18 FG) or used the open-minded players with a good eye. Schröder’s strong offensive performance was a decisive factor in the Hawks’ comeback.
Doug McDermott. The 25-year-old did not manage to get into the overall good offensive performance of his team-mates. McDermott only pocketed 2 of his 10 throws out of the field, scoring only 5 points and 4 rebounds at 2 turnovers. The remaining bankers of the Knicks also tended to stay pale. The reserveists’ duel went clearly to Atlanta at 37:16.
Even though the Knicks’ throwing rate remained high until the end, defensively Atlanta did a much better job in the second half. Nevertheless, it was the strong offense that made the comeback possible. Schröder, in particular, presented numerous aggressive drives into the zone, where the ball-carrying player either finished off himself or dropped down on one of the Big Man after attracting the attention of a second defender. The Knicks didn’t find an answer to that.