Trae Young scored 12 of his 22 points during a decisive third-quarter run as the Atlanta Hawks overcame a double-digit deficit to beat the host New York Knicks 108-100 in an NBA Cup quarterfinal on Wednesday night.
The Hawks trailed throughout the first half but outscored the Knicks 61-46 in the final two quarters to advance to Saturday’s semifinal against the Milwaukee Bucks in Las Vegas.
Young added 11 assists and was one of four Hawks players to post a double-double. Jalen Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists; and Clint Capela finished with 11 points and 13 rebounds; and Onyeka Okongwu added 12 points and 11 boards off the bench. Fellow reserve De’Andre Hunter scored 24 points.
Atlanta has won seven of its last eight games.
Karl-Anthony Towns collected 19 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, three steals and three blocked shots for the Knicks, who have lost two of three games since winning four straight. Josh Hart scored a team-high 21 points, followed by Mikal Bridges (19), Jalen Brunson (14) and OG Anunoby (13).
The Knicks led by as many as 12 in the first quarter and were still ahead by 11 with just under six minutes left in the second, before carrying a 54-47 lead into the half.
New York drained three of its first four shots in the third, taking its final double-digit lead at 62-52 on Bridges’ jumper with 9:50 remaining, before the Hawks mounted their comeback.
Atlanta ended the quarter on a 29-10 run. Along the way, the Hawks took their first lead at 68-66 on Young’s 31-footer with 5:43 left, and opened up their first double-digit lead when Hunter hit a floater to put the visitors up 81-70 with under a minute left. The Knicks were 5-of-22 from the field, including 0-for-6 on 3-point attempts, during the Hawks’ run.
The Knicks pulled within six at 93-87 on Hart’s 3-pointer with 5:46 left in the game, but the Hawks scored 10 of the next 12 points, a surge capped when Young fed Hunter for an alley-oop to extend the lead to 103-89 with 3:01 remaining. New York got no closer than seven the rest of the way.