Game Preview: Hawks vs Knicks 12/07/22

Dec 7, 2022 - 10:00 PM

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The Knicks welcome the Atlanta Hawks back to Madison Square Garden for the second time this season on Wednesday, looking to build off of their big win Sunday over Cleveland.

New York is also looking avenge their 112-99 loss to the Hawks back on Nov. 2 that saw the Knicks blow a 23-point lead and fall apart in the second half.

In the previous meeting, Dejounte Murray torched the Knicks for a career-high 36 points in the Hawks win. Trae Young only had 17 points as Atlanta rode the hot hand to the victory. Young and the Hawks have lost four of their last six including blowing a 14-point third quarter lead against the OKC Thunder last time out.

The Knicks have also lost four of their last six games. However, New York is coming off of that impressive 92-81 win over the Cavs and want to end this big home stretch with what would be a vital victory.

Young over the years has dominated the Knicks, especially at the Garden. The guard averages 28.2 points, 9.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game in 19 games against New York, including the playoffs. In 10 games against the Knicks at MSG, Young has averaged 27.4 points and 8.6 assists per game.

It isn’t just Young anymore as we saw what Murray was capable of last time he was at the Garden as well.

The big news surrounding the Knicks right now is that Miles McBride is going to be placed into the rotation and Cam Reddish along with Derrick Rose will remain out of it.

Wednesday night’s game will be a good indicator of how the Knicks will be moving forward with this updated rotation. The Hawks are always a good barometer to see where you are as a team and they will test the Knicks once again.

One statistic that highlights the tough overall start to the season for the Knicks involves games coming off of a win. Again, the Knicks beat Cleveland last time out. This season, New York is 3-7 when coming off of a win. When coming off of a loss, the Knicks are 8-5 this season. The bottom line is the Knicks need to find some consistency, especially at home where they are 5-7 so far. Jalen Brunson said after the Cleveland win that long home losing streak’s like the one the Knicks just ended “can’t happen again.” We will see if New York can back that up against a conference rival.

Prediction

The numbers and history don’t favor the Knicks going into this game and as much as my heart thinks they can do it I’m going to pick the Hawks to win this game. New York is too inconsistent and extremely up and down at home recently. Add in the fact that the Hawks have New York’s number at MSG of late and I’m going to take Atlanta to win.

This one tips off at 7:30pm. and stick here for all of the coverage during and after the game as always.