There is something about the holidays in New York. It inspires a giving attitude.
The Hawks came to the city Saturday - and gave and gave and gave some more. The Hawks committed a season-high 27 turnovers in a 111-106 loss to the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The turnovers, including 14 steals, led to 36 points for the Knicks.
The Hawks had more assists (22-19), rebounds (34-32) and shot a much better percentage (60.6-50.6) and still were handily defeated.
“We spotted them a lot of fast-break points and a lot of opportunities that doomed us,” said Lou Williams, who had a season-high 27 points. “Twenty-seven turnovers, that’s huge. You are not going to win basketball game at any level with 27 turnovers.”
The Hawks (12-12) couldn’t come back from a 14-point third-quarter deficit although they got as close as two points late in the period. They started the fourth quarter with three straight turnovers and the Knicks would push the lead to 15 points. Williams helped keep the game somewhat respectable with 12 fourth-quarter points.
Paul Millsap added 18 points and nine turnovers before fouling out. Al Horford (17 points), Kyle Korver (13) and Shelvin Mack (10) also scored in double figures. Jeff Teague had four points, four turnovers and six assists.
“I thought we came out just going through the motions like we’d been in an overtime game last night,” said Korver on the Hawks 101-99 win over the Wizards Friday in Atlanta. “We’ve got to find some more toughness. It was a tough game last night. It was a late night (flying to New York). We’ve got to come out with better energy. …
“You have to develop it. You have to talk about it as a team. You have to hold each other accountable.”
Williams played in his first back-to-back games since returning from a torn right ACL in November. Korver extended his NBA-record streak to 93 games with a 3-pointer.
“It felt good to make shots and see the ball go in the hole,” Williams said. “Hopefully this will steamroll.”
The Knicks (7-16) were led by Carmelo Anthony with a game-high 35 points. Andrea Bargnani added 23 points.
The Knicks took a 57-48 lead into halftime. They used a 12-0 second-quarter run to lead by 11 points and the Hawks were plagued by turnovers. During the stretch, the Hawks failed to score for 3:27. Following a Mike Scott jumper that gave the Hawks a 41-40 lead, they turned the ball over on four straight possessions, missed their lone shot, and had another turnover. Not until Williams hit a 3-pointer did the misery end.
The Hawks committed 14 first-half turnovers that led to 17 Knick points.
On the Hawks’ first possession of the second half the committed another turnover. The Knicks started the third quarter with a 5-0 run to lead by 14 points. The Hawks answered with a 23-11 run, including six 3-pointers (three from Korver) to pull within two points, 79-77. They trailed by four going into the final quarter and would get no closer.
By the end of the third quarter the Hawks were up to 20 turnovers that led to 27 Knick points.
“I though the third quarter was a pretty good quarter for us,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “We cut it to four. We had some opportunities coming out of the fourth quarter. We just couldn’t convert. We had sloppy turnovers, a couple of sloppy possessions and then they got away from us.”
The Knicks went on an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to push the lead to 15, 98-83.
Millsap (10 points) and Horford (six points) did all the early scoring for the Hawks. They combined for the Hawks’ first 16 points. Not until Pero Antic tipped in a miss with 2:41 left in the first quarter did the run end.
“They were being far more aggressive than we were,” Horford said. “They wanted it more. That is a little disappointing when I look at it. We fought and we have chances and we didn’t capitalize on it. They took advantage of it.”
The Hawks host the Lakers Monday.
Note: Gustavo Ayon missed his third straight game with a left ankle sprain and left leg contusion.
