Dennis Schroder helps Hawks sweep home-and-home series against Knicks

Just two nights after beating the New York Knicks in Philips Arena, the Atlanta Hawks took down Carmelo Anthony and company in Madison Square Garden, 91-85.

In this one, the story is largely with point guard Dennis Schröder, who followed up his career-high scoring game Saturday with one that was even better Monday night. Schröder came off of the bench and played in 28 minutes, scoring a career-high 14 points along with four rebounds and four assists. His +/- mark of +12 was also the best of the team.

While all of this would be impressive on its own, the biggest part of the game for Schroder was the fact that he essentially locked the game down for the Hawks late in the fourth quarter.

With the Hawks up just 77-74 with 2:28 to play, Schröder started things off by assisting Kyle Korver on a 19-foot jumper to push the lead to 79-74. After a turnover from the Knicks on the other end, Schröder came back with a jump shot of his own to increase the lead to 79-74. On the ensuing possession, Schröder drew an offensive foul from J.R. Smith and took the ball to the basket for a lay up and an 81-74 lead with just 59 seconds left on the clock.

That would wrap up the game, with Schroder being involved on seemingly every play of that two-minute long run (he also picked up a defensive rebound during that stretch).

Paul Millsap led the Hawks in scoring, with 19 points on 6-14 shooting (3-4 from behind the arc) and Korver was right behind him with 17 points after shooting 4-13 from the field and 3-9 from 3, but making all six of his free throws.

It was a rough game for Jeff Teague though–the point guard was 0-4 from the floor and managed just three points in 25 minutes before Mike Budenholzer decided to go with Schroder down the stretch.

Fortunately for him, and the team, Dennis Schröder was up to the challenge.