Hawks Rally Late to Whittle Away at Knicks’ Lead

Photo

It was a bull’s-eye for Kent Bazemore.

Bazemore hit a 3-pointer with 6.7 seconds left that put the Atlanta Hawks ahead Sunday in a 99-96 victory over the host Knicks.

“It’s just a catch-and-shoot situation,” Bazemore said. “We work on plays all the time in practice where we have a guy who drives and kicks it out to somebody in the corner.”

“I read a book called the ‘Zen in the Art of Archery,’” he added. “It talks about just let it go. Let it go and let the energy of the world take care of the rest.”

The Hawks rallied from a 93-87 deficit in the final 2 minutes 16 seconds. Mike Muscala hit a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to pull the Hawks within 1, and Kyle O’Quinn missed a shot on the Knicks’ next possession.

Bazemore was wide open in the left corner and hit for a 98-96 lead. The Knicks’ Tim Hardaway Jr. then stepped on the line trying to inbound, giving the ball back to Atlanta.

After Dewayne Dedmon made one of two foul shots, Hardaway missed a potential tying 3-pointer.

“We don’t know how to finish games,” the Knicks’ Kristaps Porzingis said. “We don’t know how to win games at the end.”

Bazemore led the Hawks with 19 points. Muscala scored 15, and Taurean Prince had 13. Dedmon finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Dennis Schroeder added 10 points for Atlanta.

Porzingis scored 22 for the Knicks. Trey Burke added 14, Jarrett Jack and O’Quinn each scored 11, and Enes Kanter finished with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

“We always talk about it being 48 minutes,” Hawks Coach Mike Budenholzer said. “Today it took all 48.”