Well...this is going south quickly.
After the last-minute insertion of Ron “Burgundy” Baker and Mindaugas Kuzminskas into the starting lineup, the Knicks were kinda able to translate that spark into a decent performance for most of the game. Also interesting — these two teams do not like each other, and it’s translated in both games this season. It was a physical, down and dirty affair; Atlanta rewarded the first career starts for both Baker and Kuz with shots to the face for both guys, but neither of them backed down.
Dennis Schroder murdered Derrick Rose for most of the game, but that wasn’t enough; he hit a decently contested 3 to murder all our hopes and dreams to boot.
The game winner!!! pic.twitter.com/68Kq3OaJwS
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 16, 2017
Derrick Rose had an up and down game, but helped keep it close in the late 4th; sadly, he was soundly blocked on the final shot attempt (on which he was probably fouled, but we all knew that call wasn’t happening). Melo missed the putback attempt, and that was game. Disappointing.
Rose drives, Millsap like #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/ZNUBGgW7Nk
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 16, 2017
Ron did more Ron stuff, putting up a dozen points (not a Baker’s dozen, an actual dozen), and hopefully he’s earned some more minutes moving forward (although I’ve had this thought this at least six times this season). Kuz did Kuz things. Noah was a beast on the glass. And overall, the Knicks actually defended well (relative to expectations, of course) for most of the game, outside of some extremely noteable gaffes, led by the defining Mike Breen comment of the game: “is someone going to guard Kris Humphries?”
"Is somebody gonna guard Kris Humphries?" pic.twitter.com/SDTCRX6omL
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) January 16, 2017
Humphries, a 24% 3 point shooter, went 3/3 from behind the arc. Not great.
Also, this.
#Knicks looking lost on defense here. Some miscommunication between Brandon Jennings and Kuzminskas pic.twitter.com/fZ3WrNP1YS
— Def Pen Hoops (@DefPenHoops) January 16, 2017
Not pretty.
On the other hand, Melo was absolutely cooking the Hawks defense, and it peaked with two separate buzzer beaters; the one at the end of the first half was peak Melo. Insanely difficult shot.
CAAARMELOOOO ANNNNTHONYYYYY pic.twitter.com/TMKJUSgc1B
— The Knicks Wall (@TheKnicksWall) January 16, 2017
.@carmeloanthony with another buzzer beater!
— NBA TV (@NBATV) January 16, 2017
He's up to 28 PTS as the @nyknicks & @ATLHawks sit tied 88-88 with 9:41 left in the 4Q. pic.twitter.com/1jeuFWlHeo
Kuzminskas impressed as well — once he gets past his defender, either off the closeout or in transition, he’s incredibly fun to watch.
Kuzminskas showing the moves on @NBATV!#NBARapidReplay pic.twitter.com/gv2tXSXiql
— NBA (@NBA) January 16, 2017
The highlight of the game: we received official confirmation that Ron Baker’s locker room nickname is Ron Burgundy. Seriously. I thought it was a remarkably off-base brain fart, but apparently, that’s what they call him. Love it.
Ron Baker = Ron Burgundy pic.twitter.com/vMFuZjPucK
— Seth Rosenthal (@seth_rosenthal) January 16, 2017
Tough loss. Things are not looking good. On to the next one, I guess.