Knicks overwhelm Young, Hawks in Fizdale’s debut

NEW YORK, NY  Tim Hardaway Jr. #3 of the New York Knicks reacts after dunking the ball against the Atlanta Hawks at Madison Square Garden on October 17, 2018 in New York City. Mike Stobe/Getty Images/AFP

NEW YORK — Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 31 points, sparking the Knicks during their franchise-record, 49-point second quarter, and New York beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-107 on Wednesday night in their first game under coach David Fizdale.

Hardaway had 16 points in the period, when the Knicks matched the Hawks’ point total for the entire first half. New York led 72-49 at the break.

Trae Young finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists, shooting 5 for 14 in his NBA debut. Taurean Prince scored 21 points for the Hawks, who were overwhelmed in their first game under Lloyd Pierce.

Four other Knicks scored at least 15 points, while rookie Kevin Knox finished with 10 and was just 4 for 16.

Hardaway and the Knicks started slowly, as he had missed his first four shots and the Knicks started 0 for 9 when they took a timeout trailing 10-2.

During that break, George Holmes of Northport, New York, nailed a halfcourt shot to win $10,000, and suddenly the New Yorkers couldn’t miss.

Frank Ntilikina made a 3-pointer out of the timeout to get the Knicks started on a 12-0 run and then they really took off in the second quarter.

That was especially true of Hardaway, who made his next eight shots against his former team. He fell seven points shy of Patrick Ewing’s franchise record for opening night, and perhaps could have gotten closer if he needed to play more of the fourth quarter.

Young, the No. 5 pick in the draft and the first player to lead the nation in scoring and assists in the same season as a freshman at Oklahoma, said he felt butterflies Wednesday. He recalled that he shot airballs on his first shot in high school, college and Summer League, saying he wanted to avoid that again.

He did, knocking down his first shot as a pro, a runner in the lane late in the first quarter. But he missed his other six shots in the first half and the Hawks were outscored by 19 points in his 17 minutes before halftime.

TIP-INS

Hawks: Pierce congratulated Hawks radio play-by-play voice Steve Holman for working his 2,500th game, counting playoffs, Wednesday. Holman started his career with the team in March 1989. … Atlanta plays its first three games on the road before facing Dallas in its home opener next Wednesday.

Knicks: The Knicks’ record for any quarter is 53 points in the fourth quarter against Seattle on Dec. 26, 1967. … Courtney Lee didn’t play after sitting out nearly all of the preseason with a strained neck. Fizdale indicated the veteran guard wouldn’t play the first few games, saying that Lee was “totally on board with how I’m approaching it and we’ll see how it goes.” … The Knicks opened at home for the first time since the 2014-15 season. …

OPENING-NIGHT OLD-TIMER

Vince Carter began his 21st season by starting at forward and scoring 12 points. Pierce said the Hawks’ research Wednesday found that only Robert Parish was an older opening-night NBA starter than the 41-year-old Carter. He stands out so much on a young Atlanta team that the Hawks’ average NBA experience drops from 3.65 years to 2.63 if Carter is excluded.

FRIENDS AND FOES

Fizdale and Pierce played against each other in college, when Fizdale was a senior at San Diego during Pierce’s freshman season for West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara.

“Lloyd caught a lob on my head from Steve Nash once,” Fizdale recalled. “I still haven’t forgave him for that but we’ve been friends a long time and this is obviously for both of us a big moment.”

UP NEXT

Hawks: Visit Memphis on Friday.

Knicks: Visit Brooklyn on Friday.