The Atlanta Hawks (20 - 12) dominated in the second half to beat the New York Knicks (14 - 17) 117 - 98 on Saturday night. The Knicks had a double - digit lead after a 32 - point first quarter and it was downhill after that. The Hawks outscored them by 22 points over the second and third quarter and ran away with an easy win. The key was the second half defense, as the Hawks allowed just 35 points over the final 24 minutes. Both teams shot well, as they both shot over 48 percent from the field with Atlanta shooting 53 percent. The turnovers were the difference in the game though, as the Knicks committed 22 to the Hawks nine. No Knicks player scored more than 18 points and they were absolutely shut down in the second half. Carmelo Anthony was the only player who showed signs of life, as he recorded a 18 point - 12 rebound double - double. The Knicks are in a rough stretch right now and it's hard to imagine it getting better with this lack of offense. They'll look to play better on Sunday against the Boston Celtics in the back end of a back - to - back. The Hawks were sick of their bad defense in the first half and shut down this weak offense to pull away with an impressive win. The frontcourt was spectacular tonight for Atlanta, as Al Horford, Paul Millsap and Mike Scott all played well. Mike Scott scored 18 points off the bench and Horford and Millsap stuffed the stat sheet. In fact, Millsap and Horford combined for 41 points, 13 rebounds, 14 assists, five steals, and three blocks. When these two are playing like that, this team is hard to stop. The Hawks will look to keep this momentum going against the Indiana Pacers on Monday.
["TeamStat(G,'Hawks') has 53 Percentage of field goals ,has 12 Losses ,has 117 Total points ,has 22 Points in 1st quarter ,has 9 Turnovers ,has 20 Wins ."
 "TeamStat(G,'Knicks') has 17 Percentage of field goals ,has 98 Losses ,has 32 Total points ,has 22 Points in 1st quarter ,has 14 Turnovers ."]