Hawks 114, Knicks 107: Scenes from ‘The Tank Before Christmas’

First of all: sorry about the game thread. I was stuck in Tysons Corner Mall — a.k.a. the seventh circle of hell — and forgot to hit ‘publish’ on my phone.

Anyway...did you watch the Knicks Friday night? If so, I hope you stopped at halftime. The ‘Bockers looked like world-beaters against the woeful Atlanta Hawks over the first 24 minutes, with Kevin Knox chipping in 21 points (17 in the first quarter!) and Emmanuel Mudiay backing him up with 17. It was a splendid display.

But these aren’t your father’s 2018-19 Knicks, the ones with a 2-0 record against Atlanta coming into Friday night. David Fizdale has turned these boys into a sleek, streamlined tanking machine, with a starting lineup capable of blowing any halftime lead. The Knicks quickly coughed up a nine-point lead, Knox went ice-cold (3 points in the second half), and the Hawks overpowered them in the fourth quarter en route to a 114-107 win.

Matt Miranda’s got the recap, while I get to wrap presents and block out the last 24 minutes of Knicks basketball from my consciousness.