The second-year guard scored 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and the Hawks finished off a home-and-home sweep of the New York Knicks, winning 91-85 at Madison Square Garden.
A
game after scoring a then-career-high 11 points against the Knicks in
Atlanta, Schroder ran the point for much of the fourth and hit a new
career best, allowing the Hawks (3-3) to pull away.
Carmelo
Anthony, who led all scorers with 25 points, hit a jumper at the 2:52
mark of the fourth that pulled New York to within 75-74. The hosts
wouldn’t get any closer, thanks to Schroder, who fed Kyle Korver for a
bucket, then Schroder had a pull up jumper from the foul line that put
the Hawks up 79-74.
After
a big offensive rebound by Paul Milsap, Schroder went strong to the
basket for a lay up to make it 81-74 and Atlanta secured the victory by
making 10-of-10 free throws over the final 33 seconds.
The Hawks were outstanding from the line, making 27-of-28 to offset a 38 percent shooting night (27-of-71) from the field.
New York (2-6) dropped its fifth consecutive game.
Milsap
led the Hawks in the third quarter, scoring 12 of his team-high 19
points to help the visitors erase a seven-point deficit. At one stretch
of the quarter, Milsap and Korver alternated threes, each making a pair,
and Atlanta had a 56-51 cushion. Schroder began his late-game surge in
the final minutes of the third with a nice feed for a Pero Antic dunk
that made it 62-57.
The
teams went back and forth in the early part of the fourth. Mike Scott
knocked down a pair of 3-pointers for his only field goals off the
Atlanta bench, and on the other side, Anthony had three buckets in the
first five and a half minutes of the quarter, including a nice
up-and-under move for a lay up that got the Knicks to within 73-71 with
6:27 to go.
Atlanta
came back from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Knicks 103-96 in the
first game of the home-and-home last Saturday at Philips Arena.
New
York had led since the early stages of the game and still held an 85-79
advantage after Tim Hardaway Jr’s 3-pointer at the 7:36 mark of the
fourth quarter. Korver, who led all scorers with 27 points, hit a
3-pointer and DeMarre Carroll knocked down a three of his own to pull
the Hawks even at 85-85. Hardaway hit another trifecta to put the Knicks
back up 88-87 with about six minutes left, but it was all Hawks down
the stretch.
A
defensive goaltending call on Samuel Dalembert gave a lay up to Jeff
Teague (19 points) and Atlanta led 89-88. The Hawks wouldn’t relinquish
the lead the rest of the way as Korver hit the last of his six threes
and Teague added another lay up that capped a 15-3 run, giving the hosts
a 94-88 advantage.
The
Knicks went 5:36 without a field goal, finally getting a basket when
Anthony knocked down a 3-pointer with 23 seconds left. Anthony led the
way with 20 points, but just six came after halftime.
“Carmelo
is such a good player, I think we threw multiple people at him (and) we
were able to get stops down the stretch,” said Hawks coach Mike
Budenholzer. “We were able to get a little separation and we had a
couple big buckets.”
Iman
Shumpert, playing minutes from where he played his collegiate ball at
Georgia Tech, hit three consecutive Knicks’ baskets, part of a 19-point
effort, midway through the third quarter, including two 3-pointers that
put New York up 74-66 at the four-minute mark. The Knicks had their
first cold spell of the second half after that, going five and a half
minutes without a bucket.
“We had a great defensive third quarter. Collectively the group really responded,” Budenholzer said.
Meanwhile,
Atlanta ended the third on a 9-0 spurt and took its first lead since
two minutes into the game, at 75-74, when Schroder had a steal and fed
Thabo Sefolosha for a lay up with a minute to play in the period. Schroder not only helped out in the scoring department, but had a career-high five steals in 20 minutes.
“Dennis just keeps on getting better and better,” Korver said. “He’s working hard on his game.”
“I
think all of us are gaining a lot of confidence and comfort in Dennis. I
think his teammates are feeling good about him,” said Budenholzer.
“He’s come in and have a big impact.”
New
York shot a sparkling 58 percent from the field (27-of-46) in the
opening half and led 61-48 at the break. Anthony had all 14 of his
first-half points in the opening quarter, including nine over the final
five minutes. J.R. Smith forced a bad shot and Anthony retrieved the
ball and hit a short jumper with 44 seconds left that helped the Knicks
end the quarter up 32-20. The lead was extended to 36-23 on Amar’e
Stoudemire’s lay up two minutes into the second quarter, then the Hawks
embarked on a 12-2 run and trailed just 38-35 after Teague hit a pair of
free throws. Stoudemire, who had 14 points and nine rebounds off the
bench, hit a turnaround-jumper in the lane late in the second that gave
New York a 61-46 cushion.
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