Knicks show togetherness in rout of Hawks

Jeremy Lin had the ball in transition with Carmelo Anthony filling the right lane. A perfect bounce pass led to thunderous one-handed dunk that got a roar from The Garden and a scream from Lin.

The Knicks created plenty of noise throughout the game, but for one night all was quiet concerning Anthony and Lin and their ability to play together. They looked good and played off each other in the halfcourt just fine. Everybody on the Knicks did in a 99-82 rout of the overmatched Atlanta Hawks' Wednesday night.

Lin had 17 points and nine assists and Anthony scored 15 to help the Knicks to their ninth win in their last 11 games.

"They got to play their game," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "I've heard a lot that Melo has to fit in or Jeremy has to fit in. No you don't. You attack. We're going to attack and we'll adjust things.

"But the better players you have on the court that's the best way you should be. It's up to us to figure out how we can work cohesively as a unit and we will and they will."

D'Antoni went to Anthony before the game and told him he wants him to be himself. Anthony seemed much more comfortable than he did Monday, which was his first game back after nearly two weeks because of a groin injury. "It was quick, a quick conversation," Anthony said. "He came up to me and said, 'Hey look, just be you.' That was it. Just be you, go out there and play your game. I respected that coming from him."

Anthony still showed some rust. He shot 7-for-16, and made a couple of nice passes for assists. But when the Knicks needed a basket -- the Hawks had trimmed a 30-point deficit to 13 in the third -- Anthony asked for the ball, drove and scored inside.

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His ability to play pick-and-roll with Lin and also score in isolation when he needs to could prove to be a major advantage for the Knicks and not the potential problem being depicted.

"They're blowing that overboard," Anthony said. "I don't really pay attention to that. I think they're putting a little too much on that. I think where Coach was coming from, he must have thought I was paying attention and listening to it. I respect what he did."

Lin was more of a scorer in the first half and distributor after halftime against the Hawks. He assisted on the Knicks' first four baskets in the third, three of them to Anthony. There was a brief scare in the quarter after Lin was inadvertently hit in the chest by a Tyson Chandler elbow, but stayed in the game.

The Knicks (17-17) will try to get over .500 Thursday night when they play Miami in the last game before the All-Star break. They should be well rested after this game when the bench produced big. Steve Novak scored 17, hitting 5 of 10 from three-point range. J.R. Smith was 4-for-8 and had 12 points. Baron Davis, in his second game as a Knick, scored a point and had six assists with five turnovers.

The Hawks (19-14) have the sixth-best record in the East, but playing without All-Star guard Joe Johnson because of left knee tendinitis, they looked lost.

It won't be nearly as easy Thursday night against LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and the Heat, but the Knicks are glad they have Anthony back.

"We're going to need him to score for sure," Lin said. "They're a really good defensive team. We're going to need Melo to be a playmaker and scorer."

That was D'Antoni's message.

"I told him before the game he's got to be Carmelo Anthony," D'Antoni said. "Attack. Go. You get the ball, go. Do your thing. You don't have to fit in. What's fitting in? What does that mean? I don't even know what that means. Jeremy will orchestrate the ball. If everybody has the mentality: 'I'm attacking,' we can be good because there's a lot of talent out there."