Hawks at Knicks
The Atlanta Hawks didn't resemble last season's 60-victory squad in
their opener and attempt to rebound when they visit the New York Knicks
on Thursday. Atlanta was lackluster offensively and was dominated on the
boards while suffering a 106-94 home loss to the Detroit Pistons on
Tuesday.
The Hawks shot 29.6 percent from 3-point range and were outrebounded 59-40 in the disappointing loss to Detroit but power forward Paul Millsap isn't about to panic. "We're a veteran group," Millsap told reporters. "We have a lot of guys that were here last year, so we understand that we use these times to learn from them. We'll use this game to learn. Last year, we started off stumbling, but we found our rhythm." New York had a brutal 17-65 record last year but produced a convincing 122-97 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday to tie the franchise mark for largest margin of victory in a season opener. The Knicks received a nice boost from a bench that outscored its Milwaukee counterparts 73-32.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, TNT
ABOUT THE HAWKS (0-1): Shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha didn't travel to New York after playing 19 minutes off the bench in the opener. Sefolosha is recovering from a broken leg that occurred in April in New York when he was involved in a late-night incident with police outside a nightclub. Backup point guard Dennis Schroder could receive some minutes at shooting guard after scoring a team-best 20 points in the opener while Kent Bazemore and former Knick Tim Hardaway Jr. also are options.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (1-0): Standout forward Carmelo Anthony had just 11 points on 4-of-16 shooting in the opener and reserve forward Derrick Williams was the star by scoring 24 points in his team debut. The former No. 2 overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2011 enters the campaign with a 9.3 career scoring average and started just 21 games over the past two seasons with Minnesota and the Sacramento Kings. Rookie power forward Kristaps Porzingis, the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft, has 16 points on 3-of-11 shooting in his NBA debut.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Hawks went 2-1 against the Knicks last season to win the season series for the first time since 2007-08.
2. New York SG Arron Afflalo (hamstring) and PF Kevin Seraphin (knee) both missed the opener against Milwaukee.
3. Atlanta F/C Mike Muscala (ankle) was injured in the opener and didn't travel to New York.