Atlanta Hawks Back On Road To Face New York Knicks

After playing the Los Angeles Lakers to a tough loss on Sunday, the Atlanta Hawks will go back on the road to face off with the New York Knicks. The game tonight will decide which team will be occupying the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Since beating the Charlotte Hornets, the Atlanta Hawks have lost four straight games and 15 of their last 17 games dating back to early November. It’s been a rough go for the Hawks since the suspension of John Collins. However, in their loss to the LA Lakers, there were positives to be taken from Sunday’s game, like holding the Lakers to 101 points. Playing sound defense has been a problem for this young Hawks team so the showing on Sunday was impressive. Let’s see if the Hawks can carry that effort in tonight’s game with the Knicks.

Trae Young continues to dazzle, scoring 30 points against the Lakers, the 13th time Trae has reached the 30 point mark this season. Despite his big numbers, the Hawks have found few wins in the games which Trae scores in bunches. Instead, the Hawks seem to be at their best when Trae is facilitating the offense by getting his teammates involved. Unfortunately, for the Hawks, their second-leading scorer, Jabari Parker, is probable for tonight. A bit of good news for the Hawks is Kevin Huerter is expected to play after sustaining a shoulder injury in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers.

Since the New York Knicks fired David Fizdale, the Knicks have improved, going 3-2 in that time. The Knicks have found some motivation since Mike Miller took over on an interim basis. The Knicks, led by Marcus Morris and Julius Randle, are a competitive team since Fizdale was removed, something that couldn’t be said for the Knicks at the start of the season.

However, even with the Knicks showing some competence, these two teams are all the way at the bottom of the East with records of 6-21. Only Golden State has a worse record than these two teams. Cleveland, who is off tonight, is also 6-21, but won’t be tied for the worst team in the East after tonight’s game is over. Both teams are currently trying to wade through these troubled waters, and getting a win tonight could start a momentum swing for both teams.