Knicks 101, Hawks 87: Scenes from a fun Christmas afternoon

The New York Knicks played a fun game on Christmas Day for the first time in about a decade, pantsing the Atlanta Hawks, 101-87, in a game they led by 20 points for much of the fourth quarter.

There were many heroes in this one. Kemba Walker continued his resurgence with a triple-double: 10 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists. Many of those dimes went to Julius Randle, who rediscovered his shooting stroke with 25 points on 9-15 shooting (6-9 from three).

Kemba also found Obi Toppin (13 points) for a few sweet dunks. Toppin is so good, this was only his second-best dunk of the afternoon.

RJ Barrett and Quentin Grimes returned from COVID protocols. RJ started, but it was Grimes who really sparkled from beyond the arc (5-12 from three, 15 points).

Seriously, this was a great game. Even Evan Fournier contributed. And Toppin ended it with a magnificent break-away dunk.

Recap to come. Merry Christmas!