Gallinari sits out but Knicks shoot sharply in win
Photo credit: AP | New York Knicks guard Al Harrington (7) dunks in the second quarter of a game against the Atlanta Hawks. (December 4, 2009)
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Dec. 4: Knicks 114, Hawks 107
ATLANTA - The Knicks earned an encouraging 114-107 win over the impressive Hawks Friday night at Philips Arena, but the night also resulted in some discouraging news about Danilo Gallinari.
The redshirt rookie did not play because of what the team labeled a "sore right forearm," an injury that occurred in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's loss in Orlando. Gallinari missed a game for the first time this season after appearing in only 28 games as a rookie last season because of a back injury.
"I don't remember which was the moment that I did something to the muscle," Gallinari said. "But it's nothing serious, just some soreness. So we'll see how it goes."
Even with their best shooter out, the Knicks shot 57.7 percent from the field and racked up 60 points in the paint as they knocked off yet another NBA team off to a hot start. The Hawks are 13-6. On Tuesday, the Knicks dropped the Suns to 14-4 with a 27-point victory.
Chris Duhon had his best performance of the season with 25 points and 10 assists in 37 minutes. He dominated Mike Bibby, who looks to be at the end of his rope. Meanwhile, Al Harrington continued to make the Knicks think twice about going with a youth movement this season, scoring 27 points, and David Lee put up a monster game of 18 points and 17 rebounds for the Knicks (5-15), who came back from an 11-0 deficit. Larry Hughes had 16 points.
Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 29 points, Marvin Williams added 20 and Al Horford had 17 points and 14 rebounds.
The Hawks had just scored 146 points (in regulation) against the Raptors on Wednesday and appeared to pick up where they left off. But the Knicks shot a blazing 61 percent (25-for-41) in the first half and took a 64-51 lead.
Harrington responded to a trade rumor involving Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas by lighting up his former team with 25 first-half points, including 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range. He had 23 of the Knicks' first 46 points.
Though Mike D'Antoni again went with rookie Toney Douglas over Nate Robinson in the rotation and even gave some early minutes to rookie Marcus Landry, he said it is comforting to go with veterans who can produce wins on a given night.
"I like the young guys and I would love to play them," D'Antoni said, "but I would like to be a fan and watch 'em and not coach 'em, because it's tough. We've still got 62 games left. Let's try to play well."
Duhon's performance stood out the most. He shot 10-for-16 - several times on aggressive drives to the basket - and made 4-for-8 from three-point range.
"I'm just playing, I'm just reacting," Duhon said. "I'm not thinking anymore . . . I just got on a little roll and teammates follow up after that."
Hawks forward Josh Smith helped, losing his cool and picking up consecutive technical fouls by screaming at referee Bob Delaney for what he thought was a missed foul call with 6:21 left in the second quarter. The Knicks turned a six-point lead into 13 after that.
The Knicks led by 15 early in the third quarter, but the Hawks rallied back behind Johnson and took an 84-83 lead into the fourth quarter. But the Knicks' offense started sizzling again, and a 23-10 run through the heart of the fourth - in which the Knicks shot 9-for-12 - put them back in control.
Robinson had a second straight DNP-CD and former Knick Jamal Crawford, a high school teammate of Robinson's in Seattle, said he's had "big brother-little brother" talks before with Robinson. "It's time we had another one," Crawford said. "That's for sure."
