Coming back from an eight-point deficit in overtime, the Hawks forced a second overtime and held on for a 140-135 win Sunday at State Farm Arena.
Atlanta took a seven-point lead after a 3-pointer by Trae Young, who led the team with 48 points and 13 assists, and held on by five with 12.4 seconds left after Young was fouled and made both free throws.
The Hawks move to 15-39 and end the Knicks’ (17-37) four-game win streak.
» ANALYSIS: Dewayne Dedmon starts off strong
In his seventh-consecutive double-double, John Collins tallied 32 points and 16 assists, and De’Andre Hunter added 19 points and nine rebounds, with Kevin Huerter contributing 16 points and six assists.
Although they had ample opportunity to close out the game in regulation, building up a 16-point lead toward the start of the fourth quarter, the Hawks let Knicks climb back down the stretch.
Tied at 116-116 at the end of regulation, the Knicks worked their way up to a 126-118 overtime lead, with the Hawks struggling to get anything going. Eventually, the offense woke up, with a tip-in by Collins making it a two-point game with 32.5 seconds left, and a travelling call on the Knicks gave the Hawks possession. Young was fouled with 7.2 seconds to go and made both free throws to tie it up.
Before the game, the Hawks introduced their three players acquired at the trade deadline (Clint Capela, Skal Labissiere and Dewayne Dedmon) although only Dedmon was available to play. Capela was limited by a right calcaneus contusion/plantar fasciitis and Labissiere was out with a left knee chondral injury).
In the first game of his second stint in Atlanta, Dedmon had 10 points and eight assists, and was a key rim protector, adding five blocks. He fouled out 26 seconds into the double-overtime period.
After the Hawks built up a 16-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Knicks whittled that down to five with a putback dunk by Mitchell Robinson with 5:52 left to play and then two at the 2:42 mark with a 3-pointer by Reggie Bullock. It was still a two-point game in the final minute, when Dedmon swatted away a shot by Julius Randle, but he was called for a foul and Randle made two free throws to tie the score at 116-116 with 30.3 seconds to go.
Randle led the Knicks with 35 points and 18 rebounds.
Young turned the ball over attempting to connect with Collins on a lob, and missed a floater at the buzzer to send the game to overtime.
Overcoming a particularly bad first quarter in which they gave up seven offensive rebounds and shot 30.8% from the field to trail by 11, the Hawks started to turn things around in the second quarter to trail by just two at halftime. They overtook the Knicks quickly in the third quarter, with a jumper by Collins making it 65-63 at the 10:37 mark. With a 33-20 edge in the third, the Hawks took an 11-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Next up, the Hawks play at 7 p.m. Monday in Orlando.
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