The Atlanta Hawks played on Christmas Day for the first time since 1989 on Saturday, a reward for their special run to the Eastern Conference playoffs a season ago. They went on the road to face the team they knocked out in five games in the first round of the playoffs but lost for the second time this season to the New York Knicks, this one by a score of 101-87.
It’s getting a bit tiresome at this point to reiterate how many players Atlanta, and many other teams, are playing without as COVID continues to wreak havoc on the NBA and other sports leagues.