Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks took care of business against the Atlanta Hawks during a Sunday matinee at the Garden.
- New York Knicks 104 (6-7)
- Atlanta Hawks 94 (9-4)
- NBA, Final, Box Score
- Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Scratch that. There’s nothing quite like a Sunday afternoon matinee at the Garden that sees the New York Knicks come away with a hard-fought impressive victory over one of the better teams in the NBA. That’s exactly what happened on this Sunday when the Knickerbockers took out the Atlanta Hawks by the final of 104-94.
Carmelo Anthony was phenomenal. What he did when waking up on this lord’s day, he should duplicate (as discussed by Mike Breen in-game). He finished with a season-high 31 on 12-of-22 from the floor, an excellent percentage.
He even threw in a little emotion as things were wrapping up:
As usual, Kristaps Porzingis was Melo’s running mate. KP poured in 19 on 8-of-15 from the floor while also contributing with 11 boards.
Willy Hernangomez, who played a key role in the absence of Joakim Noah, was fantastic all game long. In 29 minutes the rookie added seven points and eight tough rebounds. Kyle O’Quinn received the start.
If Knicks fans didn’t realize this prior to the game, they do now: Hernangomez provides much more on the court than Noah does. In fact, the Knicks can actually get away with the bigger lineup if Hernangomez is the guy out there. More on that in the coming days.
Defensively, the activity was superb for New York. They were quick and decisive. The Knicks limited the Hawks to just 40.5 percent from the floor. Paul Millsap led the way for Atlanta with 19.
Now sitting at 6-7 on the season the Knicks will next host the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday night.