Randle scores 44 as Knicks hand Hawks fourth straight loss

Julius Randle scored 44 points and the Knicks (14-15) made a season-high 17 3-pointers to beat the slumping Hawks 123-112 Monday in New York.

Next up, the Hawks (11-16) continue their road trip with two games in Boston, one Wednesday and one Friday.

Below are some takeaways from the loss:

1. Randle made a career-high seven 3-pointers and went 14-for-22 from the floor and 9-for-12 from the line, adding nine rebounds and five assists. Randle also hit a tough baseline jumper with 1:36 to play in the fourth, giving the Knicks a 115-107 lead.

“He hit every big 3,” Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. “I thought our guys competed. We’re constantly trying to find those big play moments on our side, and we got dinged by a guy making play after play, all night. We’re a step closer, but not there.”

2. The Knicks entered the game dead-last in points per game (103.4) and making the second-fewest 3-pointers per game (9.8), but looked like a much sharper offensive team from the get-go. They opened with a 39-point quarter, going 6-for-8 from distance, and went on to make a season-high 17 3-pointers in the win. The Hawks tightened things up defensively in the second quarter and opened up the third quarter on a 9-0 run to get back in the game, leading by as much as seven before entering the fourth quarter with a five-point deficit as the Knicks battled back.

3. Although the Hawks pulled within a point of the Knicks twice in the fourth quarter, their offense cooled off at the wrong time, shooting 34.8% from the floor in the final period. Trae Young, John Collins and Kevin Huerter combined to go 1-for-10 in the fourth. As the Knicks hit nearly every shot down the stretch, the Hawks fell behind.

“We did enough and we did what we needed to get back in and take a lead, have a good lead, but then it’s fourth-quarter basketball and those moments have to transfer over to us, and we had some looks, we had some opportunities, and those didn’t go for us,” Pierce said. “Those are moments, those are opportunities that they capitalized on and we didn’t.” Young finished with 23 points and eight assists, Collins added 19 points and four rebounds and Huerter added eight points and five assists.

4. The Hawks have now lost four games in a row and have lost seven of their last eight games. They are a season-low five games under .500. Collins said regardless of talent, the Hawks need to pick things up a notch: “We’ve got to come out with more effort, energy. We need heart. We need to believe that we can win. We have to have that belief that we can and will do the things necessary to win; I believe it starts there.”

5. With the third-best defensive rating (107.2) and allowing the fewest points per game (103.3), the Knicks have one of the better defenses in the league. In the first half, though, some of the Knicks bigs struggled to defend without fouling, and the Hawks took advantage and had success getting to the line. They went 23-for-25 from the line in the first half, and went 29-for-32 overall. Young went 10-12, Cam Reddish went 6-6, finishing with 16 points and Danilo Gallinari went 7-7, finishing with 16 points.

Stat of the game

42-34 (the Hawks actually won the scoring battle in the paint, something the Knicks are known for, but New York’s perimeter play gave them the advantage)

Star of the game

Randle (led the game with 44 points, made a career-high seven 3′s)

Quotable

“They’re playing good basketball; how do we put 48 minutes together of good basketball? And how do we create moments like Julius Randle had tonight?” (Pierce on his message to the team)