Hawks send Knicks to 5th straight home loss
Atlanta Hawks’ Jeff Teague (0) shoots against New York Knicks’ Andrea Bargnani (77), of Italy, as J.R. Smith (8) and Carmelo Anthony (7) look on during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in New York. AP
NEW YORK — Jeff Teague scored 16 points to lead eight players in double figures, and the Atlanta Hawks sent the New York Knicks to a fifth straight home loss with a 110-90 victory Saturday night.
Paul Millsap, back in the starting lineup, had 14 points and 13 rebounds as the Hawks shot 56 percent and won for the fourth time in five games. They avenged the loss during that span, a 95-91 Knicks victory in Atlanta on Wednesday.
This was at Madison Square Garden, where New York hasn’t won since beating Milwaukee on Oct. 30 in its season opener, and where the fans are getting restless.
There were noticeable groans and boos in the arena, along with a few “Fire Woodson!” chants as the Knicks fell to 3-6.
Carmelo Anthony had 23 points and 12 rebounds for New York. Andrea Bargnani added 16 points and nine boards.
J.R. Smith shot 3 for 18 to add to his nightmarish start at home. He came in shooting 5 for 25 at MSG and was yanked with a little under 4 minutes left after missing all six attempts in the second half.
The Knicks fell to 0-4 in their orange uniforms, which made for an ugly match on the court with the Hawks wearing red. And they had a four-game winning streak against Atlanta snapped.
Up 11 after three quarters, the Hawks let the Knicks get within five, then put it away with a 12-2 burst that included a four-point play by Kyle Korver, who extended his streak with a 3-pointer to 83 games, pulling within six of Dana Barros’ NBA record.
Korver scored 15 for the Hawks, who followed a 113-103 home victory over Philadelphia on Friday with another powerful performance.
Already without Tyson Chandler because of a broken leg, the Knicks were also missing Metta World Peace on Saturday because of a sore left knee.
They are still holding down Amare Stoudemire’s minutes as he works his way back from a third knee surgery in the last year, and said the limited time on the court isn’t working for him or his teammates. He talked with coach Mike Woodson earlier Saturday and said he hoped his minutes could double, though the only thing Woodson committed to while talking to reporters was getting Stoudemire more repetitions in practice.
The Knicks led 26-24 after one before Mike Scott, Gustavo Ayon and Shelvin Mack led a bench unit on a 17-3 burst to open the second that gave Atlanta a 41-29 advantage. The Hawks led 54-47 at halftime.
