The Atlanta Hawks were in New York on Wednesday evening to take on the Knicks in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup.
Both teams have seen each other earlier this season, with the Hawks taking the previous win behind Zaccharie Risacher’s 33 points. This game will mean a little bit more for both teams, as whoever wins advances to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals.
The Hawks started off the game slow, missing their first eight shots, but Trae Young calmed the group down and got them on the board.
Young got in the paint once again to cut into their deficit midway through the quarter.
Jalen Johnson got it going on both sides of the ball late in the quarter, including this tough basket for the and-one. Despite their rough shooting, the Hawks went into the second quarter only down six points.
The Hawks’ shooting woes continued in the second quarter, but Bogdan Bogdanovic was able to knock down the team’s first three-pointer of the game.
Zaccharie Risacher went into his bag of tricks, and pulled out an almost-poster dunk on Karl-Anthony Towns.
The Hawks were fighting back throughout the quarter, but the Knicks went on a run and extended their lead back to double digits. There was still some fight in the Hawks, and De’Andre Hunter got aggressive, getting to the line and putting up 12 points in the first half.
The Hawks kept the game in reach, only trailing 54-47 after shooting 37% from the field and 19% from three.
Coming out of halftime, the Hawks got things going offensively while also being able to get some stops, and got within two, thanks to Jalen Johnson.
Young turned it up in the third quarter, knocking down a pair of threes and getting his teammates involved, which led to the Hawks getting the lead.
Hunter got in on the fun and dunked took the Knicks to the rim for a huge dunk.
The Hawks continued to get stops on defense, and held the Knicks to 18 points in the third quarter, and went into the fourth quarter leading 81-72. To open the quarter,
Johnson found Onyeka Okongwu for the easy lob in the paint.
Johnson continued his dominance throughout the game, getting the rebound on defense and then getting the dunk on the other end. From there, the Hawks completely took control of the game and led by double digits.
Down the stretch of the game, Dyson Daniels and Hunter hit two big threes to keep the lead.
In the end, the Hawks were too much for the Knicks, and they were able to go on the road and get the win to advance to the semifinals of the NBA Cup to face the Milwaukee Bucks.
Young finished with 22 points and 11 assists, Johnson finished with 21 points, five rebounds, and seven assists, and Hunter finished with 24 points.