Hawks at Knicks
The New York Knicks host the Atlanta Hawks in the season opener on Wednesday, and while winning remains the ultimate objective, both teams also will measure development and process as they try to crawl from the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. The opener marks debuts for new head coaches David Fizdale (Knicks) and Lloyd Pierce (Hawks), beginning a season where New York is without Kristaps Porzingis and Atlanta hands the offense to rookie Trae Young.
Porzingis is recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL in his left knee, and may not be back on the court before Christmas. “A lot of people count us out, but we know what we’re made of, we know the work we put in this offseason,” Knicks guard Tim Hardaway Jr. told reporters during preseason. “All we can do now is go out and prove it.” The Hawks finished with a conference-low 24 victories (five below the Knicks) last season and drafted Young - who led the nation in scoring and assists last season at Oklahoma - to serve as centerpiece of the rebuild. “Our margin of error to start, when you have a new team, a new staff, is very slim,” Pierce told the media during preseason. “So, we need to try and get on the same page as early and often as we can.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Atlanta), MSG (New York)
ABOUT THE HAWKS (2017-18: 24-58): Young scored in double figures with five-plus assists in four of his five preseason games, including a 30-foot game-winning 3-pointer. The Hawks also will deploy heavy minutes to two other first-round picks in Kevin Huerter and Omari Spellman, and have brought in a few veterans - including 41-year-old Vince Carter and former Knicks guard Jeremy Lin (who played one game last season). John Collins, who earned NBA all-rookie second-team honors averaged 10.5 points and 7.3 rebounds, will miss at least the first three games with a left ankle injury.
ABOUT THE KNICKS (2017-18: 29-53): Hardaway averaged 18.7 points in 24 games after Porzingis’ injury and opens the season as New York’s top offensive threat. Center Enes Kanter finished fifth in the league in field-goal percentage (59.2) and tied for sixth in rebounds (11.0 per game), and continued to make a positive impression by averaging 16.3 points and 13.3 rebounds in three preseason games. Kevin Knox, the ninth overall pick in this summer’s draft, shot 3-of-15 from the field in his final two preseason games.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Knicks likely will be without G Courtney Lee (sidelined in preseason with a neck injury) and G Emmanuel Mudiay (sprained right ankle) for the opener.
2. Atlanta G Taurean Prince enters his third season in the league after posting five 30-point games in 2017-18.
3. The Hawks won two of three meetings with the Knicks last season, including a 99-96 triumph on Feb. 4 in New York - just one of eight Atlanta road victories in 2017-18.