(SportsNetwork.com) – Carmelo Anthony has taken 20 or more shots in his last
five games and has made 50 percent or better just once.
Anthony will try to have a smoother touch when the New York Knicks tangle with
the Atlanta Hawks Monday in the back end of a home-and-home series at Madison
Square Garden.
The Knicks have lost four in a row and suffered a 103-96 loss in Atlanta on
Saturday, as Anthony posted 20 points on 8-of-20 shooting and pulled down nine
rebounds. Iman Shumpert scored 19 points and dished out seven assists for the
Knicks, who made 47.6 percent from the field and fell to 2-5 on the season.
Atlanta only had nine turnovers and came back from a 32-20 deficit after 12
minutes of play. The Hawks had a 27-13 scoring advantage in the third quarter.
“I thought they made some adjustments, kind of picked their tempo up in the
third quarter,” Anthony said. “They outscored us in the third. You ain’t going
to win games like that, to be honest with you.”
Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points and Amare Stoudemire collected 14 off the
bench to go along with nine boards.
New York will play four straight at MSG with Orlando, Utah and Denver also
scheduled to visit the historic arena.
The Hawks received 27 points from Kyle Korver and he made 6-of-9 3-pointers.
Jeff Teague netted 19 points and DeMarre Carroll added 12 for Atlanta, which
ended a two-game slide.
“We were more focused on our defense,” Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer said
of the second half. “The offense will come, we’ll make shots and guys will
finish. Defensively is where we need to keep our focus.”
Atlanta leads the NBA with 24.8 assists per game and has dished out more than
25 assists in four of five games this season. After visiting the Big Apple,
the Hawks will play two straight and eight of 10 games at home.
The Knicks have won six of the last nine games against the Hawks and five of
the previous six encounters at Madison Square Garden.
The two teams will play again in Atlanta on April 13.
