The suddenly healthy Atlanta Hawks will try to extend their winning streak to four games and remain unbeaten against the Knicks when the teams meet in New York on Monday afternoon.
The Hawks defeated the Boston Celtics 119-115 in overtime on Saturday and have won four of their last five overall. The Knicks were beaten 116-99 by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday and have lost six of their last nine.
Atlanta is 2-0 against the Knicks in their head-to-head series. The Hawks have won the last three contests against New York.
Atlanta got forward Jalen Johnson back in the lineup after he missed five games with shoulder soreness. Johnson had 14 points, 13 rebounds and three assists in nearly 38 minutes in his return. Johnson averages 19.7 points (second-most on the club), 10.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists.
“It was good to have Jalen back,” Atlanta coach Quin Snyder said. “His presence in the game … It doesn’t matter if he’s scoring, there are different ways to impact the game and I was impressed, as the game went on, the things that he did.”
Johnson gives Atlanta another offensive weapon that Trae Young can find on the court. Young, who missed the previous game against Chicago with sore ribs, scored 28 points and had 11 assists against the Celtics.
De’Andre Hunter, who had missed the previous two games with a sore left foot, also returned.
“One of the biggest plays in the game was when Trae swung the ball quickly to (Hunter) and he didn’t make the shot,” Snyder said. “But you could see the response right after with those two that they knew that was the right play. Over time that’s what winning teams do, so for them to do that was emblematic of their connection during the game.”
Johnson’s return pushed two-way player Daeqwon Plowden back on the bench. He scored 19 points and was 5-for-6 on 3-pointers in his NBA debut on Wednesday and was instrumental in the win. He did not play on Saturday.
The Knicks struggled with 3-pointers on Friday — giving up too many (22-for-40, 55 percent) and not making enough (14-for-34, 41.2 percent).
“The best way to guard the line is to prevent the 3s and that’s where we’re pretty good,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “But we have to challenge those. We have to have the ability to get in and get out and then have an awareness of when a guy gets hot. We’ve got to make sure we’re there on the catch to take his airspace away. We’ve got to read the game and make guys do things that they really don’t want to do.”
Neither team is great defensively against the 3. Atlanta allows a league-worst 15.2 3-pointers per game and Knicks are No. 22 with 13.8 3-pointers allowed. The teams both allow 37.8 percent of 3-pointers, tied for 26th in the NBA.
The Knicks have played the last two games without Karl-Anthony Towns (25.4 points and 13.9 rebounds) because of a sprained right thumb. In 17 career games against the Hawks, Towns is averaging 23.5 points and 12.7 rebounds. He has totaled 53 points and 35 rebounds in two games against Atlanta this season.
“It’s day to day, you know,” Thibodeau said. “We’ll give it a shot (Monday) and see where he is and go from there.”
