Carmelo Anthony scores 39 points as New York Knicks edge Atlanta Hawks 113-112 – NBA Recap
On Sunday night at the Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA, a capacity crowd of 18158 was treated to a high scoring spectacle as the New York Knicks defeated the Atlanta Hawks 113-112.
It was a matchup between two teams, both bound for some post season action. Not too long ago, the Knicks looked as though they had no chance of making it to the playoffs. However with the win they stay half a game ahead of the
Philadelphia 76ers to stay at the 7th spot in the Eastern Conference Standings.
On the other hand, Atlanta Hawks are on the 5th spot, and there hopes of chasing down the Boston Celtics for the number 4th spot and a home court advantage in the playoffs have taken a hit. With the loss,
they also saw their three game winning streak come to an end.
Carmel Anthony got back to being himself, after scoring 12 points in his last outing. He led the scoring for the Knicks finishing the game with double-double figures of 39 points and 10 rebounds. Amare’ Stoudemire, who had only
just returned from injury, accompanied Anthony in double-double statistics as he finished the game with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
Landry Fields was not far behind, finishing with 18 points on the night. Baron Davis, another player for the Knicks who was coming back from injury, also had a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. Iman Shumpert chipped
in with 11 points as all five Knicks starters ended the game with double scoring figures.
For the Hawks, Marvin Williams led the charge. He ended the game with double-double figures of 29 points and 11 rebounds. Jeff Teague added 23 points and Joe Johnson was not far behind with 22.
Josh Smith, who played at the centre position for most of the game, had 14 points and Jannero Pargo came off the bench to contribute 12 points.
It was a battle of shooting throughout the night as both teams shot a high percentage from beyond the arc. The Knicks shot 12-of-19 from downtown and Hawks topped that off by shooting 15-23 from behind the three point line with
Williams, Pargo and Johnson combining to get 12 of those.
Hawks started the game off very well as they raced to a 10-3 lead. It took the Knicks some time to settle into the matchup which they eventually did as they came back into the game to make the scores 11-13 with 7:34 remaining in
the first period.
Atlanta responded back with a 9-3 run of their own as they took the lead 22-14. By the end of the opening quarter, both teams were finding it pretty easy to turn possession to baskets, the Knicks getting more points as they rallied
to tie the scores at 31-each.
With 10:21 remaining in the second quarter, Knick were leading 36-35. Hawks again managed 8 quick unanswered points to regain control over the matchup. From then on the game went into a frenzy of points and by the time there were
3:27 to go in the half, the scores were tied at 52 each.
Both teams traded baskets for the next few minutes. However this time around, the Hawks closed out the period strongly as they led 65-60 at the half way stage.
In the second half, Knicks turned things around from the get go as they started the third quarter on a 12-1 run. However the home side was not going to give up that easy, they rallied their way back to tie the scores at 74-each.
From that point on, with the momentum on their side, Hawks went on an 11-5 run to take the lead 85-79. Anthony responded back for New York with a three to make it one possession game. He also got the final 5 points of the quarter
to help the Knicks rally back to take a 1 point lead before the start of the fourth.
In the final quarter, Stoudemire scored 4 quick points, however from the Hawks side, Williams and Pargo responded with back to back threes to give the lead back to Atlanta. At the 7:56 mark, Knicks trailed 100-102. In the next
few minutes, Smith and Davis dropped in back to back threes to snatch the lead back for New York.
The lead changed hands several times in the next few minutes and with 1:50 remaining till the final buzzer; Johnson struck from long range to give Hawks the lead 112-111. On the very next possession, Anthony responded back with
a long two to give Knicks the lead 113-112.
With 3.4 seconds remaining, the Hawks took a time out to set up the play for the final possession. Williams drove to the basket as time expired. Amare’ and Anthony both got a piece of the ball on the play as they helped the Knicks
take this one in the end.
Tags: