Hawks rally falls short to Knicks, lose sixth straight game

The Hawks fought hard to get back into Saturday night’s game against the Knicks. But trailing by a point in the final seconds, guard Trae Young lost his dribble, which set up a steal by the Knicks’ OG Anunoby.

Forced to foul, the Hawks sent Anunoby to the free-throw line for the game-sealing free throws, sending the Hawks to a 128-125 defeat, their sixth straight loss.

It slammed the door on the Hawks’ rally to erase an 18-point deficit in the third quarter.

Fueled by Onyeka Okongwu, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jalen Johnson down the stretch, the Hawks battled against the Knicks, who made their lives tough on the glass.

The Knicks led by 10 after a midrange jumper from Jalen Brunson with 7:24 to play in the game. But back-to-back buckets from Okongwu and Alexander-Walker that cut their deficit to six. Then Alexander-Walker hit a 3 that brought it within a single possession.

They Hawks kept fighting through the Knicks scoring before Okongwu hit a couple of 3s in a two one-minute span that gave the Hawks a two-point lead with just over two minutes to play.

Alexander-Walker picked off Brunson a minute later and scored a transition layup that gave the Hawks a one-point lead after the Knicks had regained it.

But the Hawks put Anunoby on the line just a few too many times.

“I was just proud of how he competed,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “You would like to get a win, because it’s affirming of the way you play. That wasn’t the case. I think the things that our team did tonight are the things we need to do to be successful.”

Quick stats: Johnson had 20 points, nine rebounds and 12 assists, finishing one rebound shy of his seventh triple-double of the season. Okongwu had 31 points and 14 rebounds. Alexander-Walker had 25 points off the bench.

Young finished with nine points and 10 assists, but also six turnovers.

Turning point

The Hawks trailed the Knicks by 18 points, 85-67, with 6:55 to play in the third quarter. But the Hawks used a 12-4 run to begin clawing their way back into the game. Johnson hit a jumper one-foot from the basket before he found Alexander-Walker for a 3. Hawks rookie Asa Newell made a layup, before Alexander-Walker made another 3 and Johnson sunk a jumper six feet from the rim.

They eventually extended their run to a 18-6 as they charged their way back into the matchup.

Highlight play

The Hawks had a huge shooting night from their starting center, who has transformed himself into a big that can stretch the floor.

With 3:15 to play in the game, Alexander-Walker found Okongwu wide-open at the top of the key. Okongwu caught the ball up high and drained the 3 to give the Hawks their first lead since the first quarter.

What they said

“You’ve got a 19-year-old rookie out there, just mixing it up with KAT and (Mitchell) Robinson and others. I just thought the whole team just competed again. I wish we had a different result, but I’ll take that just playing hard and playing together. We played like the team that I think we need to be to be successful, Asa was big part of it.” -- Snyder said of Asa Newell’s performance.