In an incredibly chippy game, the Hawks closed out the Knicks in Wednesday’s 103-89 Game 5 victory after an immense amount of pre-game trash talk from Clint Capela.
“We can be physical, but we can win games as well,” said Capela on Tuesday. “Now we’re coming to your home to win this game again and send you on vacation.”
Capela backed up his talk by having his best game of the series finishing with 14 points, 15 rebounds, and 2 blocks on 6-for-7 shooting from the field.
The Knicks shot under 30 percent through the first quarter with only Reggie Bullock’s nine points keeping them afloat as he shot 3-for-4 for 3-point range. Luckily for New York, the Hawks couldn’t throw it in the ocean either as the team went 1-for-11 from 3-point range. The Hawks’ backcourt of Trae Young and Bogdan Bogdanovic didn’t hit their first 3-pointer until midway through the third quarter after missing the first 10.
A Julius Randle elbow to Onyeka Okongwu’s face and a Taj Gibson push in the back on De’Andre Hunter who was in mid-air on a layup led up to some halftime antics between the teams.
The refs handed out three separate technical fouls to Randle, Nerlens Noel, and Solomon Hill after time expired in the second quarter. Hill and Noel got into a scuffle at half court after Noel purposely bumped into Young on his way back to the locker room and Randle picked up his after throwing the ball into Young’s lap.
After leading by four at the half, the Hawks led by as much as 19 in the fourth quarter as the Knicks couldn’t get into any rhythm in the second half. Through the first seven minutes of the third quarter, the Knicks had scored just seven points. New York’s best player in this series, Derrick Rose, had his worst game scoring just six points on 3-of-11 shooting as the 32-year-old looked gassed.
Randle tried to find his shot early on, but his indecisiveness led to six of his eight total turnovers occurring in the first half. Randle ended the game with 23 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assists.
With the Hawks having an awful shooting night, the team found ways to score in the paint and through their pick and rolls sets that had been dominant all series.
In the final seconds of the game, Trae Young had the last laugh in New York as he took a bow after hitting a 34-foot 3-pointer as fans gave the Knicks a standing ovation.
The Hawks will take on the No. 1 seed Philadelphia 76ers in the second round of the Eastern Conference Playoff beginning with Game 1 on Sunday.
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