Hawks fall apart at home, lose to Knicks

By Bud L. Ellis

Great teams don’t lose games at home like this. Great teams don’t lose to 4-15 teams on their home floor after running out to an 11-0 lead.

Maybe the Atlanta Hawks aren’t as great as we thought they were. Or maybe it was just a bad night.

Either way, Friday’s 114-107 loss to woeful New York at Philips Arena underscores the dangers any team faces on any given night.

Atlanta seemed to fall apart after Josh Smith was ejected in the second quarter. By then, the Knicks had stormed back from that early deficit, thanks in part to red-hot shooting that resulted in New York finishing the night shooting 57 percent from the floor.

The Hawks led 84-83 entering the fourth quarter, but the Knicks took total control from there, outscoring Atlanta 31-23 during the final 12 minutes.

Joe Johnson shouldered the offensive load, scoring 29 points to lead the Hawks on 12-of-24 shooting. Marvin Williams added 20, Al Horford scored 17 and pulled down 14 rebounds, and Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 12.

Atlanta plays tonight at Dallas.

—30—

Saturday, December 5, 2009 at 11:26 pm by bud

Tags: Al Horford, Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks, Jamal Crawford, Joe Johnson, Marvin Williams, National Basketball Association, New York Knicks