Knicks Disheartened Following Loss to Hawks

The New York Knicks ended their road trip on a dud after a 121-116 loss to the Atlanta Hawks at the State Farm Arena.

Even though the Knicks were tied at the end of the third quarter, they couldn’t withstand the Hawks’ run at the end of the game. The Knicks also had a five-point lead with just over two minutes to go, but the Hawks finished the game on a 16-6 run to win.

Knicks forward Josh Hart stressed the importance of closing out in tight games.

“End of a long road trip, we came out sluggish,” Hart said h/t Posting and Toasting. “We kind of let them operate offensively kind of how they wanted and then offensively we weren’t crisp. I think we had 15 turnovers or whatever for the day. We’ve got to find a way. This game obviously very winnable at the end of the game. We’ve got to be able to put teams away at the end of close games.”

Coach Tom Thibodeau also provided a solution for the Knicks in how to avoid letting teams in games to begin with.

“We have to close better,” Thibodeau said. “We have to defend and we gotta rebound and we gotta keep our turnovers down. If we do those three things, you’re in position to win.”

Even though the Knicks came up with a loss, Jalen Brunson is still looking at the bigger picture.

“We’re trending in the right direction,” Brunson said. “Can’t focus on the opinions of people outside. Focus on what we believe’s going on—how can we fix it together? We see each other and work with each other every day. So we know what’s going on in between these lines.”

The Knicks are back in action tomorrow against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.

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