NEW YORK, DECEMBER 25 (BUS): Kemba Walker became the seventh NBA player with a triple-double at Christmas, and the New York Knicks beat the depleted Atlanta Hawks 101-87 on Saturday to claim their first vacation win in a decade. .
Julius Randle scored 25 points and 12 rebounds for the Knicks in a game between the teams that met in the first round of the playoffs last season. But the Hawks were missing Trae Young among the nine players in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, so that wasn’t a rematch for Atlanta’s five-game win.
Walker finished with 10 points, 12 assists, and 10 rebounds. The 6-footer raced around the ground in a desperate attempt to rebound his 10th for most of the second half, finally getting it in the fourth quarter when Mitchell Robinson’s block came to him, according to the Associated Press.
It was the first of the Christmas trio since Golden State’s Draymond Green in 2017, and a continuation of Walker’s strong streak since going from rotating to back in the starting lineup when the Knicks were short-handed.
“Kemba Walker! Kemba Walker!” to the New York boy, who scored 44 points in a loss to Washington on Thursday, cheered among the crowd, which ran out.
Evan Fournier and Quentin Grimes each scored 15 points for the Knicks, who cut a Christmas sled from six games. They’ve reached 23-31 in 54 games at the highest level in the league, but haven’t won one since 2011.
John Collins and Dillon Wright each scored 20 points for the Hawks, who were playing Christmas for the first time since 1989. Their six-game winning streak was cut short.
Young starred in his first playoff series this past spring against New York, shrugging off lewd taunts by Knicks fans and getting the last word when he bowed to them near the end of Atlanta’s Game Five victory.
The Knicks made his first seven shots and raced a 19-3 lead on the Randle 3 Index with a 7:48 left in the first quarter. The Hawks outplayed the Knicks for most of the remainder of the first half, but Fournier made two three-pointers during a 10-point streak for the Knicks, extending the lead to 61-51 at the break.
The Knicks blew his opening with a 14-4 boom in the third that widened the six-point lead to 79-63. Back-to-back three-pointers by Grimes and Taj Gibson to open fourth gave New York their biggest lead of 87-66 and from there the only drama was whether Walker would get another rebound.
The Hawks’ injury report took three tweets from the team’s official account to the list, and along with Young major players such as Kevin Huerter, Lou Williams and Danilo Galinari. Clint Capella came back from the protocols and had six points and nine rebounds.
Meanwhile, the Nix family is getting healthier. Grimes made his debut since setting a Knicks junior record with seven three-pointers and 27 points against Milwaukee on December 12. He was then put into protocols and missed the last five games.
Hint
Hawks: Signed guards Anthony “Cat” Barber and Malik Ellison, both playing this season for College Park Skyhawks, the NBA affiliate in Atlanta, on 10-day contracts. Ellison is the son of former #1 draft pick Pervis Ellison.
Knicks: Hall of Famer Bernard King, who set a Christmas record of 60 points with the Knicks in 1984, was in the game. …the Knicks dropped from six protocol players to Nerlens Noel, Miles McBride, and Jericho Sims. Emmanuel Quikley and Kevin Knox II have been released but need to recover their status before playing.
insult