ATLANTA _ Early in the first quarter Friday night while Courtney Lee was at the far end of the court shooting free throws Tim Hardaway Jr. wandered over near the Atlanta Hawks bench. With the game going on he took the opportunity to give a hug to Hawks' coach Mike Budenholzer.
The timing may have been strange, but the sentiment was not. With a hug as well as a video montage paying tribute to his two seasons in Atlanta the Hawks made Hardaway feel at home at Philips Arena.
And then, suitably softened up, the Hawks brought Hardaway and the Knicks down to earth. Wiping out a 17-point deficit the Hawks, who entered the night an NBA-worst 3-15, ran away from the Knicks in the fourth quarter for a 116-104 victory.
It was just two nights earlier that Hardaway Jr. was contemplating the 28-0 run the Knicks had used to turn a double-digit deficit into a one-sided win over Toronto and he noted that he'd never been a part of a stretch like that, but, "It's great to be on that other end of the spectrum." It didn't take long to find his team back on the down side of that.
The Knicks built an early 17-point advantage. But just as they'd come back in the third quarter, they gave this one away in the period _ turning an 11-point halftime advantage into a three-point deficit by the time the fourth quarter started.
Hardaway finished with 22 points and the Knicks got a season-high 26 from Lee and 28 points from Kristaps Porzingis, but it still wasn't enough as they fell apart in the fourth quarter.
With a chance to play the conquering hero, Tim Hardaway Jr. arrived at Philips Arena instead with nothing but praise for the team that let him go.
Hardaway spent two years in Atlanta developing his game, and he thanked the Hawks staff for its work. And with the Knicks riding into town with a surprising 10-7 record while the Hawks were struggling through a 3-15 start, there were no I told you so's coming from Hardaway.
"They really did (help me grow as a player)," Hardaway said of the Hawks. "Made me mature as a ballplayer on and off the floor. Just you know, all out competitor, just grinding, the after hours, time spent here with the coaching staff, the strength coach _ it's very memorable. I'm very excited to be back and playing in front of everybody."
