Derrick Rose’s sole effort not enough to take game 3

Derrick Rose made his first start in his new stint with the Knicks and scored a game high 30 points, collected 6 rebounds and dished 5 assists but his effort wasn’t enough for the fourth seed to take the pivotal game three and New York fell 94-105 at State Farm Arena on Friday night.

Efrid Payton, Knicks’ traditional starter got a DNP from coach Thibodeau after very poor performances not only in this series but throughout the season too.

Another guy who made his first start was coach Thibs other guy, Taj Gibson. Him and Nerlens Noel split minutes as Noel was sent in whenever the Hawks needed to be stopped from making shots in the paint but his ankle pain wouldn’t take a whole game. He did however led the bench with 12 points and 8 boards.

The disappointment however, came from the guys on which the Knicks relied the most during the regular season. Both Julius Randle and RJ Barrett shot tons of bricks. Randle made just a couple of threes, shooting 2-15 from the field. He did made all of his free throws (eight) and finished in double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Barrett shot slightly better – in terms of making less attempts – and was also less fouled. 2-9 from the field for a total of 7 points and 4 rebounds.

“I know I’m getting a lot of good shots. Those are 3’s I need to make. That’s about it. I see it. I’m open. I just have to make it. They made shots, we didn’t, and they won the game.”

– RJ Barrett

Alec Burks wasn’t any better either. Both him and Immanuel Quickley went 2-8 from the field with Burks scoring 8 and the rookie just 4.

The Knicks got the lead at the end of the first quarter as Reggie Bullock sank three free throws but in the second quarter they went MIA. Leading 39-36 five minutes into the second act, the Knicks allowed the Hawks to go on a 22-3 run and from there, they never managed to cut the lead to single digits.

Trae Young led his team with 21 and a game high 14 assists. Bogdan Bogdanovic dropped 15 buckets and John Collins added 14. Clint Capella finished in double-double with 13 and 12.

The large crowd was less violent than the one at MSG resuming to chant “New York Sucks” and “A-T-L”. Randle was a target for the Hawks fans who called him “Overrated!”.

Up-next:

Game four of the series continues in Atlanta , today in the  afternoon, starting 1:00 pm.