Tim Hardaway Jr. provides a spark in win over Hawks

ATLANTA —  As the Knicks prepared Wednesday morning for their meeting with the Hawks that night, they got a visit from Bernard King, one of the greatest scorers in franchise history.

And maybe some part of his message led to what was to follow as one game after putting together a disjointed offensive effort the Knicks managed to hang on for a 112-107 win. Or maybe, more likely, it was the return of Tim Hardaway Jr. to the lineup or a chance to face a porous Hawks defense that accounted for the step forward.

Hardaway, who sat out Monday’s double overtime loss to the Bulls with lower back pain, returned to the starting lineup Wednesday and poured in 15 of his 34 points in the third quarter as the Knicks turned a three-point halftime deficit into a 14-point lead. 

Then, with the game getting away from them, the lead down to four, Hardaway spun through the lane, drawing a foul and converting a pair of free throws against his former team with 1:49 left to push the lead back to 104-98. He drove for a layup 26 seconds later to secure the lead. After getting a shot blocked with 38.7 seconds left and after a timeout Emmanuel Mudiay bounced in a short jumper.

“I just wanted to make sure today we did a great job of executing down the stretch, try to put the game in my hands, on my shoulders,” Hardaway said. “You have to give all these guys credit. Noah Vonleh kept us in the game in the first half. Allonzo Trier attacking. Frank [Ntilikina] knocking down shots. Emmanuel Mudiay coming in and imposing his will, posting up, defending Trae [Young]. I could go on and on. It was a team effort.”

They did have a next man up that night, but the results were still nothing like what was on display Wednesday — or anything that King did in his days with the team. 

Knicks coach David Fizdale said that King was his idol as a kid and he made sure to have him spend time with rookie Kevin Knox. That may not have had an immediate impact as Knox, in his second game back from a sprained ankle, was scoreless, missing all six of his field goal attempts.

But for a team that openly discusses, not tanking, but focusing on development o the young players on the roster. King recalled the 1982-83 season when the Knicks went to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

“He talked about his first year with the team and how they started off 0-7,” Fizdale said. “By the second half they were one of the better teams playing. That’s the exact message to this team — don’t get caught up right now in wins, losses, all of that. Just keep your mind on work and your craft. That’s really what he was preaching to them. The other thing is that I really want to build a relationship with he and Kevin. No one can talk about scoring and preparing and having a game built for certain areas of the floor better than Bernard King. And he’s ours so I’m going to use him the best I can.”

Fizdale, without a weapon like that at his disposal, may talk about the future, but he seemed determined to find a way to win this game. Knox and fellow rookie Mitchell Robinson played sparingly and Trey Burke, who was starting earlier this season, never got off the bench.

The Knicks held Young, who entered the game averaging 19 points, without a point in the first half as he missed his only three field goal attempts. Ntilikina, who was hounding him the length of the court, managed to score 11 points in the half after going scoreless himself Monday against Chicago.

Ntilikina hit a three-pointer in the second quarter, ending a streak of 14 consecutive misses from beyond the arc, and then air-balled his next attempt. But he still managed to hit 5 of 10 shots and finished with 14 points for the Knicks, who still trailed the Hawks, 55-52.

While Hardaway scored 27 of his 34 points in the second half, Fizdale credited him with contributing in other ways until he started scoring.

“I think no one expected it,” Fizdale said. “I think people kind of capped him off as who he was, and I don’t believe in that. I really challenged him to step up for this team and be a good teammate, a good leader. A guy who competes on the defensive end and when he needs to, will it to victory and when it’s there, help his teammates get open shots. And he’s really trying to do that. I’m really proud of the way he’s approaching it.”