The Atlanta Hawks (6-19) head to Madison Square Garden for a Sunday night matchup against the New York Knicks (12-13). It will be the second game of a back-to-back for both teams.
Atlanta was able to win at home on Saturday by a score of 117-110 over the Orlando Magic. The Hawks were led by Ersan Ilyasova who had a perfect night from the field going 9-9 including five three-pointers on his way to 26 points. Kent Bazemore scored 19 and Dennis Schroder had 18 while each also dished out seven assists.
The Knicks' woes on the road continued as they fell 104-102 to the Chicago Bulls on Saturday.
Kristaps Porzingis could not connect on a long three-pointer at the buzzer, and New York is now 1-8 in away games. Porzingis led the team with 23 points while Enes Kanter had a double-double scoring 10 and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Projected starters
Hawks: PG - Dennis Schroder, SG - Kent Bazemore, SF - Taurean Prince, PF - Ersan Ilyasova, C - Miles Plumlee
Knicks: PG - Jarrett Jack, SG - Courtney Lee, SF - Lance Thomas, PF - Kristaps Porzingis, C - Enes Kanter
Team leaders
Hawks: Points - Dennis Schroder 20.4, Rebounds - Dewayne Dedmon 7.8 (will not play, leading available rebounder is Taurean Prince at 5.2), Assists - Dennis Schroder 6.6
Knicks: Points - Kristaps Porzingis 25.3, Rebounds - Enes Kanter 10.5, Assists - Jarrett Jack 6.0
Team injuries
Hawks: Out - John Collins (shoulder), Dewayne Dedmon (leg), Mike Muscala (ankle)
Knicks: Out - Tim Hardaway Jr.
(leg)
What should be known heading into Sunday's game
The Knicks have taken care of business against lesser-quality opponents at home as they are 8-1 at Madison Square Garden against teams who are currently under .500. The one loss came to Orlando in a game where they were missing their two top scorers, Kristaps Porzingis and Tim Hardaway Jr.
Dennis Schroder had 26 points and eight assists in the Hawks win over the Knicks on November 24. After a horrendous one-point outing against New York in their first matchup last season, he went on to score 78 points on 53.2 percent shooting and hand out 23 assists in the next three meetings.
New York now ranks dead last averaging only 8.1 made threes per game.
That number has dropped a bit to 6.8 in the four games Tim Hardaway Jr. has missed. Whether they can take advantage of a Hawks team that allows the third-most three pointers at 12.1 made per game remains to be seen.
History of Hawks vs. Knicks in regular season
The Knicks and Hawks have met 368 times in the regular season with the Hawks holding a 194-174 advantage in the win column. New York can even up the series with them since they moved to Atlanta as the Hawks hold a slight 108-107 advantage since moving from St. Louis.
Atlanta has now defeated the Knicks four straight times after their 116-104 win over New York on November 24. The Knicks could not take advantage of a 15-point lead after one quarter as they were thoroughly outplayed the rest of the game.
