It was a Knicks-Hawks battle for the fourth lead and the home field advantage, and it became a night of bloody slaughter and overtime in the insane garden.
Julius Randle scored 40 points and the Knicks (33-27) won their eighth game and on Wednesday night won 137-127 in front of a wild crowd of 2,000 that was right out of the national anthem. The Knicks tied their longest winning streak since 2014, when they also won eight consecutive wins.
With their three-point shooting frenzy, the Knicks survived the physical battle that forced Falcons superstar Trae Young to miss the fourth quarter and OT.
More importantly, the Knicks took fourth place in the Eastern Conference alone, meaning that if the season ended today, they would host a playoff series in the first round. And it could be against these hot Falcons, who swept the Knicks 3-0 in the season series. There are a dozen games left before the Knicks’ first post-season since 2013.
Randle now has two 40-heats against the Falcons this season. He scored two big baskets in the final 1:18 of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks could not finish Atlanta. Randle, however, gave the Hawks the deadly shot in OT, by dropping a 3-point lead and making Reggie Bullock (18 points) disappear for another three to put the Knicks ahead 2:30.
“It feels good, but we’m not done yet,” Randle said in court after the thriller. “We knew we had to have it. We know what we are fighting for at the end of the day. There were many times we could leave the top, but we did not. We’re just a bunch of guys bringing a hard hat in every game. ”
Before he leaves, Randle roars to the screaming crowd: “New York, we’re here!”
Randle shot 6-for-8 on 3-pointers, while the Knicks drained 19 of 35 shots from outside the arc at night. Derrick Rose conceded late in the fourth quarter but finished with 20 points. Rookie Immanuel Quickley heated up from 3-point series (4-for-6 shooting) and finished with 20 points.
It was a violent game. The Knicks lost their two centers, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson, to bloody facial injuries, then took out their third string center, Norvel Pelle, Young.
In the last minute of the third quarter, Young rides the track and Pelle disputes his shot, tangles and ends up on Young’s foot. Young, who was wearing glasses to protect his injured right eye, fell to court with his left ankle, writhing and bumping the floor with his hand. Young was helped off the track by three of his teammates. He had 18 points and ten strokes at halftime (he finished with 20 and 14).
The Hawks led by seven in the fourth quarter, but Brandon Goodwin ran the point instead of Young, who was out after spraining his ankle.
Goodwin missed a free throw with 28 seconds left in the regulation, and when Randle scored on a drive, the Knicks led by four points. But the Hawks rallied to send the game to overtime.
With 8.4 seconds left, Bogdan Bogdanovic got space with Bullock selected and drilled a 3-point above Noel with 6.2 seconds. Missed Missle’s 15-foot buzzer.
Gibson was lost in the second quarter when he was hit in the eye during a fight for a rebound and a swollen eyelid. Noel joined him in the middle of the third quarter when Clint Capela, star of Atlanta, stared him in the mouth after blocking a shot. He leaves for the locker room and joins Gibson.
Noel returned to a big hand from the Garden crowd in the fourth quarter and had a big block late in the fourth and OT.
It was a fireworks frenzy in the first half, leaving the Knicks 69-67 behind the Hawks when Young punished them.