It was a Knicks-Hawks battle for the fourth seed and house advantage, and it turned into a night of bloody massacres and overtime in the frenzied Garden.
Julius Randle scored 40 points and the Knicks (33-27) won their eighth straight game, securing a 137-127 victory Wednesday night in front of a wild crowd of 2,000 people that resonated from the start. ‘national anthem. The Knicks tied their longest winning streak since 2014, when they also won eight in a row.
With their 3-point shooting frenzy, the Knicks survived the physical battle, forcing Hawks superstar Trae Young to miss the fourth quarter and OT.
More importantly, the Knicks went on to occupy the only position in fourth place in the Eastern Conference, which means that if the season ended today, they would host a series of first-round playoffs. And it could be against those hot Hawks, who the Knicks swept away 3-0 in the season series. There are a dozen games left before the Knicks’ first postseason since 2013.
Randle now has two 40-point outings against the Hawks this season. He scored two big baskets in the last 1:18 of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks couldn’t finish Atlanta. However, Randle gave the Hawks the death blow to OT, wearing down a 3-pointer and crawling with Reggie Bullock (18 points) to get another 3 to put the Knicks in eight points with 2:30 left.
“It feels good, but we’re not done yet,” Randle said on the track after the thriller. “We knew we had to have it. We know why we fight at the end of the day. There were many times we could have dropped the top but we didn’t. We’re just a bunch of guys wearing a hard hat at every game. “
Before leaving, Randle shouted at the crowd shouting, “New York, we’re here!”
Randle shot 6-for-8 in triples, while the Knicks cleared 19 of 35 shots from beyond the bow at night. Derrick Rose committed a foul at the end of the fourth quarter, but finished with 20 points. Rookie Immanuel Quickley warmed up from a 3-point distance (4-on-6 shot) and finished with 20 points.
It was a violent game. The Knicks lost their two centers, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson, to bloody wounds to the face, and then their third-string center, Norvel Pelle, pulled Young out.
In the final minute of the third quarter, Young drove the lane and Pelle disputed his shot, tangling and landing at Young’s foot. Young, wearing glasses to protect his injured right eye, fell to the court grabbed by his left ankle, writhing and hitting the ground with his hand. Young was helped off the field by three of his teammates. He scored 18 points and 10 assists at halftime (he finished with 20 and 14), schooling the Knicks.
The Hawks led seven on entering the fourth quarter, but made Brandon Goodwin run the point instead of Young, who was out after twisting his ankle.
Goodwin missed a free throw with 28 seconds left in regulation, and when Randle scored on a drive, the Knicks led by four points. But the Hawks concentrated on sending the game into overtime.
8.4 seconds from the end, Bogdan Bogdanovic got some space with Bullock chosen and drilled a triple to Noel with 6.2 seconds left to end the tie. Randle’s 15-foot bell has failed.
Gibson was lost in the second quarter when he was hit in the eye during a battle by a rebound and suffered a torn eyelid. Noel joined him in the middle of the third quarter, when Atlanta star center Clint Capela hit him in the mouth after blocking a shot, ruined the playing field in agony. He walked into the locker room, joining Gibson.
Noel came back in the fourth quarter to a big hand from the garden people and had a big block at the end of the quarter and the OT.
It was a fireworks frenzy in the first half, leaving the Knicks following the Hawks 69-67 while Young punished them.