Hawks defeat New York Knicks 121-116 in Risacher’s breakout game

Big win.

The Atlanta Hawks defeated the New York Knicks by a final score of 121-116. Starting for the Hawks would be Young, Daniels, Risacher, Johnson, and Capela. Bogdanovic, Hunter, Bufkin, Krejci, Lundy, and Zeller remained out.

The rookie scored first for the Hawks, knocking down a three-pointer on the first possession. After two scores from Capela, the Hawks started the game on a 7-0 run. The Hawks led 14-7 before the first timeout of the game. Young missed his first five field goals before scoring his first points in transition.

At the end of quarter one, the score was 26-22 in the Hawks’ favor. The second quarter was all Zaccharie Risacher. He scored 16 points and made three of his four three-point attempts.

Young and Johnson combined for 14 more points to give the Hawks a 65-61 lead entering halftime.

Jalen Johnson found Risacher wide open in the corner to keep him rolling in the second half. The Hawks maintained the lead throughout the majority of the third quarter, leading by just one possession with 2:30 remaining. After this point, Jalen Brunson put the Knicks back on top. A buzzer-beating putback from Jalen Johnson tied the game back up at 89 entering the fourth.

A back and forth fourth quarter put the game in a very winnable position for either team. With roughly five minutes remaining, the game was tied at 103.

The game stayed close, and Risacher reached 30 points as he tied the game up again at 110 points with less than two minutes left to play. Then, a fast break dunk from Clint Capela gave the Hawks a 114-111 lead.

Free throws ultimately sealed it, and the Hawks walked away with a win at home.