Knicks vs Hawks: Game Thread – Starting Lineups, Injury Report, Series Notes, etc.
By David Menze
Game Preview
The Atlanta Hawks play host to the struggling New York Knicks, who hope to rebound from Sunday’s 31-point blow out home loss to the Spurs.
This is not a “must win” game for the Knicks by any stretch of the imagination, despite their last place Atlantic division record of 2-4. However, team owner James Dolan put some extra pressure on NY by guaranteeing a win against the Hawks after Sunday night’s loss.
Knicks head coach Mike Woodson was mulling over a change to lineups/rotations with Amar’e Stoudemire out and decided to go with a bigger unit by starting J.R. Smith in place of Pablo Prigioni at shooting guard.
Tyson Chandler is also out for the Knickerbockers after he suffered a non-displaced fracture of the right fibula two games ago. That means the team will learn on Carmelo Anthony even more than usual, but he might be up for the task as he’s killed the Hawks over the past four meetings by averaging 38.3 points a game.
However, that was over the past two seasons when guys like DeShawn Stevenson, Anthony Tolliver and Josh Smith drew the defensive assignments. This time around Melo will have to go against new, tougher additions like Paul Millsap, DeMarre Carroll and Cartier Martin.
With Chandler out and Smith replacing Prigioni, the Knicks are going with more of a scoring lineup instead of a defensive lineup, which the Hawks should feast on.
Millsap and Al Horford have been straight up beasts for the Hawks, and are both averaging more than 18 points a game. Jeff Teague is also off to a stellar start, averaging 17 points and 10 assists per game in new Hawks head coach Mike Budenholzer’s system.
Quick Facts
Who?: NewYork Knicks vs Atlanta Hawks
What?: Eastern Conference Showdown (Game #8, Home Game #3)
Where?: Philips Arena (Atlanta, GA)
When?: Wednesday, November 13, 2013 – 8:00 PM (ET)
How?: ESPN HDTV
Probable Starters
Atlanta Hawks:
PG: Jeff Teague | SG: Kyle Korver | SF: DeMarre Carroll | PF: Paul Millsap | C: Al Horford
New York Knicks:
PG: Raymond Felton | SG: J.R. Smith | SF: Iman Shumpert | PF: Carmelo Anthony | C: Andrea Bargnani
Injury Report
Atlanta Hawks: Lou Williams (right ACL rehab) is out.
New York Knicks: Tyson Chandler (non-displaced fracture of the right fibula) is out.
Current Records, Streak & Hot, Lukewarm, or Cold
Records: New York Knicks (2-4) / Atlanta Hawks (4-3)
Streaks: Atlanta Hawks –> OVERALL: Won 2 | HOME: Won 1 | ROAD: Won 1 New York Knicks –> OVERALL: Lost 1 | HOME: Lost 3 | ROAD: Won 1
Home/Away Records: Hawks are (2-0) at home / Knicks are (1-1) on the road.
Atlanta Hawks: Hot. The Hawks have won two straight games and have scored more than 100 points in all seven games this season.
New York Knicks: Cold. The Knicks got blown out by 31 points at home on Sunday by the Spurs and are currently tied for last place in the Atlantic division.
Season/Past Season Series
Atlanta hosts New York for the first-of-four contests this season. The clubs will meet in New York on 11/16 and 12/14 and will finish the series on 2/22 at Philips Arena. The Knicks swept the 2012-13 series 3-0, winning the season-finale 98-92 at Madison Square Garden on 4/17. The Hawks last defeated New York 100-90 at home on 3/30/12. The Knicks own a four-game overall winning streak in the series as well as a four-game home winning streak. New York leads the all-time series 184-168, but the Hawks own a 62-35 home record since moving to Atlanta in 1968-69.
Common Threads
Hawks Assistant Coach Kenny Atkinson spent four years as a Knicks Assistant (2008-12), while fellow Assistant Jim Thomas was a scout for New York from 2004-07. Knicks Head Coach Mike Woodson served as the Hawks’ Coach from 2004-10, compiling 206 wins. Knicks Assistant Coach Jim Todd is a former Hawks Assistant. Iman Shumpert played his college ball at Georgia Tech. Cartier Martin and Raymond Felton were teammates with Charlotte in 2008-09. Beno Udrih played for San Antonio from 2004-07 while Hawks Head Coach Mike Budenholzer was an Assistant on Spurs’ bench. Elton Brand and Metta World Peace were teammates with the Bulls from 1999-01, while Hawks Assistant Coach Darvin Ham coached World Peace as an Assistant with the Lakers (2011-13). Gustavo Ayon and Udrih were once traded for one another in a multi-player transaction, with Ayon going to Milwaukee and Udrih to Orlando on 2/21/13.
Information was used from the Hawks and Knicks official gamenotes
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