Brunson Will Be A Game time Decision Tonight
Photo: Special To The NY Beacon
By Andrew Rosario
Slow Start Killing Hart and Knicks
Photo: Special to the NY Beacon
When the New York Knicks hosted the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, the starting line-up resembled a pre-season game. No Jalen Brunson. No Julius Randle and no Mitchell Robinson due to recent injuries. Despite having 6 players in double figures, the Knicks (36-26) fell to Atlanta (27-34) 116-100. Dante DiVincenzo led New York with 19 points with Bojan Bogdanovic game off the bench to chip in 19. The Hawks got major production from Jalen Johnson scorching the Knicks with 26 points leading al scorers while bench mate De’ Andre Hunter pitching in 22 points off the bench.
It only seemed like yesterday that the Knicks went on a scalding 14-2 January run having them in the thick of the Eastern Conference. Injuries have ravaged the team since then as the loss dropped them to 5th place in the conference as they have lost 8 of their last 11 games.
Even with the injuries, the team has relied on their defense to keep them competitive. That has not been the case recently. Head coach Tom Thibodeau’s team has started slowly on both ends of the court as they gave up 33 first quarter points, only scoring 15. Making matters worse was the fact that Atlanta was without their star guard Trae Young who has torched them in the past.
After another slow start, guard Josh Hart said, “the margin for error is small with all the guys we have out. We just put all the guys we have out there. We can’t have those slow starts and expend so much energy trying to get back into the game.”
The New York Knicks have 3 upcoming home games beginning tonight as they host the Orlando Magic (37-26) before the Philadelphia 76ers come to the Garden for back-to-back games this Sunday and next Tuesday. Brunson will a game time decision against the Magic. Both Randle and OB Anunoby will not play. There has been no return date for either.
