Its not often you look at the stat sheet and see a team shoot 61 percent from the field, make 15 threes and go a perfect 11-11 from the free throw line and lose. The Atlanta Hawks turned the trick Saturday night falling to the New York Knicks 111-106 thanks in large part to 27 turnovers.
Offensive miscues plagued the Hawks from the start as the Knicks built an early 26-22 lead after one. The lead grew to 57-48 at the half but Atlanta was able to stay within striking distance thanks to good performances from Lou Williams and Paul Millsap. The Hawks got to within two points in the third before Carmelo Anthony took over in the fourth.
Anthony scored 15 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth to keep the Hawks at bay who continued to shoot themselves in the foot along the way. Atlanta turned the ball over at least six times in every quarter and the Knicks scored 36 points off of those 27 turnovers.
Atlanta's reserves, led by Williams, did make things interesting down the stretch. Andrea Bargnani's jumper with 1:48 remaining put the Knicks up 108-93. Atlanta called time and both teams pulled their starters for the final moments. Williams scored 10 of Atlanta's final 13 points but free throws from Beno Udrih and Tim Hardaway Jr. helped close out the game.
Anthony's 35 points led all scorers while Bargnani finished with 23. Hardaway Jr. added 13 off the bench.
Williams had his best game of the season for the Hawks while playing in back-to-back games for the first time since returning from last season's ACL surgery. Williams finished with a team-high 27 while going 9-16 from the field and 6-13 from three-point range. Paul Millsap finished with 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out while Al Horford added 17. Kyle Korver scored all 13 of his points in the second half and extended his consecutive games streak with a made three to 93 games. Shelvin Mack bounced back from Friday's tough shooting performance to finish with 10 points on 4-5 shooting off the bench.
Jeff Teague struggled again for the Hawks finishing with four points and six assists in 27 minutes. He was pulled late as Mike Budenholzer elected to go with Williams and Mack down the stretch.
The loss drops Atlanta back to the .500 mark on the season at 12-12. The Hawks are back in action on Monday when Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers visit Philips Arena.