Knicks fight but fail to secure the win, fall 108-107 to Hawks in dramatic finale

After the horrific loss against the Raptors the other day, several things changed for New York.

First, Jeff Hornacek started with Mindaugas Kuzminskas at SF and with Ron Baker at SG.

Second, they kept the Hawks under 60 points at halftime.

Third, they were leading by 1 when the second quarter buzzer sounded. And that thanks to a wonderful three pointer by Carmelo Anthony as time expired, to put the Knicks ahead, 54-53.

A photo posted by New York Knicks 🏀 (@nyknicks) on Jan 16, 2017 at 12:31pm PST

As the game went into the third quarter it seemed like deja-vu. The Hawks, who played without Dwight Howard, started on a 8-0 run and the Knicks needed 3.15 minutes before nailing the first field goal.

But no matter how many points were the Hawks going ahead, the Knicks would find a way to get back and stay close in the game.

Kuzminskas scored 9 crucial points of his total 14 in the third, alongside Melo who scored 11 of his total 30, including another buzzer beater, after the Hawks took a 7 points lead, with Kris Humphries making 2 threes in the last minute.

Baker ignited the fourth quarter with a three pointer and a steal that went to Justin Holiday, to tie the game at 88. Then he made another three and completed a 10-0 run for the Knicks to start the fourth.

Baker, an undrafted rookie, who made his first NBA start today, missed his first three field goals attempts in the first quarter, then went flawless for the next four, all from behind the arc.

But it was in vain because there was one thing they couldn’t change: securing the win.

In spite of the huge efforts from Anthony, Rose, Kuzminskas, Baker and Holiday, they couldn’t find a way to stop Dennis Schroder.

Schroder, who finished with 28 points while shooting 13-16 from the field, made a three pointer with 16 seconds on the clock to put the Hawks up by one for the first time in the final 5 minutes.

With the last possession, Derrick Rose found an open lane and drove to the hoop but failed to connect. Anthony rebounded but his layup hit the rim, Noah rebounded one more time but missed and Schroder secured the ball as time expired.

Knicks lose at home, 108-107 after a great fight at both ends and fall to 18-24.

Rose scored 18 and dished 9 assists, Joakim Noah scored 7 and collected 17 rebounds while Baker finished with 12 buckets.