It was a Knicks-Hawks fight for the fourth advantage and for the home field and it became a night of bloody massacre and overtime in the hectic garden.
Julius Randle scored 40 points, and the Knicks (33-27) won the eighth straight game, recording a 137-127 victory Wednesday night in front of a wild crowd of 2,000 who were taken out of the national anthem. The Knicks equaled their longest winning streak since 2014, when they won eight in a row.
With their 3-point shooting frenzy, the Knicks survived the physical battle, forcing Hawks superstar Trae Young to miss the fourth quarter and OT.
More importantly, the Knicks moved into exclusive possession of fourth place in the Eastern Conference, which means that if the season ended today, it would host a series of playoffs in the first round. And it could be against these hot Hawks, whom the Knicks swept 3-0 in the season series. There are a dozen games left before the Knicks’ first postseason in 2013.
Randle now has two 40-point outings against the Hawks this season. He scored two big baskets in the 1:18 end of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks failed to finish Atlanta. However, Randle gave the Hawks the death blow in the OT, draining a 3-pointer and leaving Reggie Bullock (18 points) for another 3 to bring the Knicks eight points at 2:30.
“It feels good, but we’re not done yet,” Randle said on the field after the thriller. “I knew we had to have it. We know what we’re fighting for at the end of the day. Many times we could have given up on the tops, but we didn’t. We’re just a bunch of guys bringing a hat to every game. ”
Before leaving, Randle shouted in front of the screaming crowd, “New York, we’re here!”
Randle shot 6-for-8 with 3 pointers, while the Knicks drained 19 of 35 shots from behind the arc in the night. Derrick Rose failed at the end of the fourth quarter, but finished with 20 points. Rookie Immanuel Quickley warmed up from the 3-point range (shooting 4 for 6) and finished with 20 points.
It was a violent game. The Knicks lost their two centers, Nerlens Noel and Taj Gibson, due to bloody facial injuries, and then their third rope center, Norvel Pelle, removed Young.
In the last minute of the third quarter, Young led the band and Pelle challenged his shot, tangling and landing on Young’s leg. Young, who was wearing goggles to protect his injured eye, fell to the court holding his left ankle, writhing and hitting the floor with his hand. Young was helped off the field by three of his teammates. He had 18 points and 10 assists at the break (he finished with 20 and 14), educating the Knicks.
Hawks led with seven entering the fourth quarter, but Brandon Goodwin led the point in place of Young, who came out after turning his ankle.
Goodwin missed a free kick with 28 seconds left, and when Randle scored, Knicks led by four points. But the Hawks gathered to send the game to overtime.
With 8.4 seconds left, Bogdan Bogdanovic got a space with the chosen Bullock and drilled a 3-pointer over Noel with 6.2 seconds to tie. Randle’s 15-foot fighter missed.
Gibson was lost in the second quarter when he was hit in the eye during a recovery battle and suffered a torn eyelid. Noel joined him in the middle of the third quarter, when the center of the Atlanta star, Clint Capela, slapped him in the mouth after blocking a blow, which collapsed in front of the court. He walked to the locker room, joining Gibson.
Noel returned in the fourth quarter to a big hand from the Garden crowd and had a big block late in the fourth and OT.
There was a fireworks frenzy in the first half, leaving the Knicks to watch the Hawks 69-67 while Young punished them.