Hawks 110, Knicks 90
NEW YORK -- The Atlanta Hawks extended the New York Knicks home losing streak to five games with a 110-90 win Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
Point guard Jeff Teague led a balanced scoring attack for Atlanta (5-5), leading eight players in double-figures, with 16 points. Shooting guard Kyle Korver scored 15 points and forward Paul Millsap, acquired in the offseason by the Hawks, recorded his third double-double in his last six games, scoring 14 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Guard Shelvin Mack came off the bench to score 12 points and distribute 12 assists, center Al Horford had 12 points, forward Mike Scott netted 11 points, and forward DeMarre Carroll and backup center Gustavo Ayon scored 10 points each.
Forward Carmelo Anthony led the Knicks in scoring with 23 points. He's topped New York in scoring every game this season.
New York's last home win came against Milwaukee Oct. 30 on opening night.
The Knicks (3-6) haven't lost five straight home games since dropping six in a row Feb. 5-27, 2010, a year before they acquired Anthony. Without center Tyson Chandler, their best defensive, the Knicks' defense has been a big reason for the slide at the Garden.
The Knicks have allowed an average of 110.0 points a game in the home losing streak. Chandler missed his fifth consecutive game Saturday due to a non-displaced fracture of his right fibula. He is expected to miss another six weeks.
Korver's four-point play -- he was fouled by Anthony after sinking a 3-pointer -- and a dunk from Carroll gave the Hawks a 96-81 cushion with 5:53 left to play.
The Hawks took an 11-point lead, 80-69, into the fourth quarter, scoring the last five points in the frame.
New York played one of its more aggressive halves this season, out-rebounding the smaller Atlanta lineup 30-22, but still trailed 54-47 at the break.
The Knicks led 26-24 after the first quarter, but were victimized by a 17-3 Hawks burst to start the second quarter. Atlanta moved ahead 41-20 lead with Ayon tossing in six points and Mack adding five points in the run.
NOTES: Knicks G J.R. Smith, the NBA's Sixth Man of the Year last season, started his third straight game. ... On Friday, Smith was fined $25,000 by the NBA for a derogatory Twitter exchange with Detroit's Brandon Jennings. ... Carmelo Anthony leads the NBA in minutes. The Knicks forward is averaging 40.8 a game. ... Hawks G Kyle Korver extended his consecutive game streak with at least one 3-pointer to 83 consecutive games with a trey in the first quarter. That's the second-longest streak in NBA history behind Dana Barros (89 games). ... The Hawks are tops in the NBA with 27.0 assists a night.
