The Atlanta Hawks entered Madison Square Garden tonight with an opportunity to string together consecutive wins for the first time this season. On Saturday night, the Hawks prevailed 117-110 over the Orlando Magic in Atlanta. The Knicks were looking to get back in the win column after a disappointing 104-102 loss in Chicago on Saturday night.
The Hawks were playing again without Dewayne Dedmon, John Collins and Mike Muscala. The Knicks played without former Hawk and second-leading scorer Tim Hardaway, Jr.
Atlanta used a balanced scoring approach early using a different starter to complete each of their first five field goals, the last of which was a beautiful left-handed layup in traffic from Dennis Schroder, giving the Hawks a 10-6 lead four minutes into the game.