At least Carmelo Anthony didn’t score 40 points.
The Knicks star scored six straight points in the fourth quarter on his way to 25 points in a 95-91 victory over the Hawks Wednesday night at Philips Arena.
The Hawks (4-4) had their two-game win streak snapped and failed to score more than 100 points for the first time this season. It was their fifth straight loss to the Knicks, including three at home.
Jeff Teague led the Hawks with 25 points. Al Horford added 23 points.
The Knicks (3-4) won for the second time in six games. They also got 20 points from Andrea Bargnani, including two fourth-quarter 3-pointers.
It took a while, but Kyle Korver finally extended his 3-point streak to 81 straight games with a long-range shot in the fourth quarter. He is now eight away from the NBA record of 89 set by Dana Barros.
Korver added a layup and another 3-pointer on the next two Hawks possessions as they took a 78-72 lead with just over eight minutes remaining.
Then Anthony erased the lead by himself. He scored six straight points in just over a minute to erase the deficit.
Raymond Felton score and Bargnani hit a 3-pointer and the Knicks held an 83-78 lead with 5:49 remaining. They would put the game away from there. After the Hawks closed to within three with a Horford basket, Korver committed a turnover on an inbound pass and Horford and Teague each missed 1 of 2 free throws. It punctuated the Hawks’ poor execution late in the game.
The Hawks turned a 10-point deficit into a three-point advantage in a high-paced third quarter. They outscored the Knicks 23-10 in the 12 minute period, which included a 21-4 run. The Knicks shot a meager 20 percent in the third, making just 5 of 25 shots.
Horford had 10 of the Hawks’ points, including a run of eight straight.
The Knicks led by as many as 17 points in the first half. They held a 55-45 advantage at halftime.
The Knicks did a great deal of their early damage from beyond the 3-point line. They hit 8 of 19 from long range in the first half. The Hawks, by stark comparison, made just 1 of 11 from beyond the arc. Five of the Knicks’ 3-pointers came in the first quarter.
Anthony has been a pain in the Hawks’ collective side as a Knick. He entered the game with a total of 157 points in the past four games, an average of 39.3 points per game. He scored 40 or more in his two games against the Hawks last season.
“He’s had his way with a lot of the teams in the NBA,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said before the game.
The Hawks host the 76ers Friday before they travel to New York for a rematch with the Knicks Saturday.
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