Atlanta Hawks 111 New York Knicks 102

Boxscore

Gameflow

Hoopdata boxscore

Highlights

Team	Poss	Off Eff	eFG%	FT Rate	OR%	TO%
NY	91	1.121	50.6	16.1	23.3	12.1
ATL	90	1.233	55.5	24.4	35.1	15.6

Larry Drew:

"That was almost a similar situation like we collapsed fourth quarter against Milwaukee. Losing focus of what got us the lead. I threw the challenge down at halftime. We played well, let’s see what we are made of the third quarter because we knew that team was not going to quit. But we got into a situation of trading baskets and against a team like New York you can’t do that because they have a lot of firepower."

What, again, was the most important thing from the loss in Milwaukee?

"[W]e have to learn from it. To me, that's the most important thing. It happened to cost us a game but the most important thing is that we learn from it. We cannot allow that type of play in the fourth quarter. We cannot allow the snowball effect."

There was some of "that type of play" in the first half of the fourth quarter but good play far outweighed it over the course of the game.

Drew:

"I’m proud of the way our guys responded. They did not lose their composure. They got back into a rhythm. Josh Smith did a great job when we were struggling somewhat for a basket and we were able to post him and he took advantage of it, made some really nice moves down low."

Drew on Joe Johnson:

"Everyone looks at his scoring but I look at his assists and rebounds because those are areas we really need help in. And he’s been defending like crazy. He guards ones, he guards twos. I’ve always stated that he’s a very underrated defender."

Odd night to praise Joe Johnson's defense. (I'd say after Johnson typically plays atypically good defense against Deron Williams would make a stronger case than a night the Hawks allowed Raymond Felton and Landry Field significant freedom and the Knicks 112 points per 100 possessions.)

Also, if Larry Drew likes Joe Johnson's rebounding (10.8 DR%), you know who he might love? Jeff Teague (12.6 DR%).

Jason Walker on Al Horford:

He had his usual ho-hum, 19 points on 12 shots night, with 14 rebounds and 6 assists tossed in. Is there any doubt that Al Horford is an All-Star? Despite not getting 21 shots like Amare Stoudemire, Horford outplayed him across the board. Put Horford in an offense that averages more than 90 possessions a game and see what kind of numbers he might put up nightly. Once again, Horford was boss in crunch time...scoring 5, grabbing 2 rebounds, and mixing in an assist and block.

Kris Willis on Josh Smith:

[Smith] was clearly into this game and was a factor on both ends of the floor. His final line of 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists looked much better but the 9-13 shooting may have been the best part. He started inside and got some easy baskets in transition and usually after getting in a rhythm that leads to more success from the outside for Smith. He knocked down 2-3 3-point shots including one to push the lead back to eight late in the fourth.