The New York Knicks celebrated Christmas in their den at Madison Square Garden with a landslide victory (101-87) on Saturday over the Atlanta Hawks, heavily affected by the Covid-19.
The Knicks got the job done on Saturday, easily beating the Atalanta Haws (101-87). Five New York players scored 10 points or more, including Julius Randle (25 pts, 12 rebounds) and Evan Fournier (15 pts, 5 rebounds, 3 assists), who was effective at 3 points (3 of 6), as the rest of the team (20 out of 50). “We played hard from the start,” said Kemba Walker, who signed a triple-double (10 pts, 10 rebounds, 12 assists), the first for a Knicks player on Christmas Day.
Finally a victory at Christmas, after 6 setbacks
The Knicks earn their sixth straight regular-season victory over the Georgia franchise, the one that knocked them out last season in the first round of the playoffs. The Hawks were then worn by Trae Young, currently on anti-Covid protocol, like seven other Atlanta players.
Clint Capela has made his comeback after breaking out of anti-Covid protocols and scoring 6 points and taking 9 rebounds. John Collins and Delon Wright both scored 20 points. The Knicks remained on six consecutive losses on Christmas Day. The New York franchise has played 54 “Christmas Games”, an NBA record (23 wins, 31 losses).
4 other matches this Saturday, without Durant or Doncic
The other Christmas Day games are Milwaukee-Boston, where Giannis Antetokounmpo (Bucks) is expected to make his comeback after coming out of anti-Covid protocols, Phoenix-Golden State, LA Lakers-Brooklyn and Utah-Dallas, posters hit hard by the Covid, with the absences of many stars, including Kevin Durant (Nets) and Luka Doncic (Mavericks).
Jules Aublanc with AFP journalist RMC Sport
