By ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATLANTA (AP) — OG Anunoby scored 29 points in 27 minutes, Karl-Anthony Towns had his second triple-double of the series and the New York Knicks had their biggest playoff victory in franchise history, overwhelming and eliminating the Atlanta Hawks 140-89 in Game 6 on Thursday night, April 30.
The Knicks broke several NBA records by halftime. Their 40-15 lead at the end of the first quarter marked the largest of the shot clock era. Their 47-point halftime lead was the biggest in playoff history.
It was New York’s third straight win after falling to 1-2 in the series following back-to-back one-point losses.
“It speaks volumes on our team that we were able to bounce back from two disappointing losses,” Towns said. “We had to step up to the challenge of being down in the series — super proud of our guys for that.”
New York’s 51-point win tied for the sixth-largest margin of victory in NBA postseason history.
Dyson Daniels and Mitchell Robinson were ejected after fighting following a pair of free throws from Anunoby that gave the Knicks a 50-point lead in the second quarter.
The Knicks exceeded 100 points with 8:21 remaining in the third quarter. New York’s starters were done for the night with 2:45 remaining in the third.
“It was just a tough position to be in,” Atlanta’s Jalen Johnson said. “We dug ourselves a deep hole from the start and it was tough to climb out of that.”
Anunoby scored 26 of his points in the first half. Mikal Bridges finished with 24. Towns, five days after becoming the fourth Knicks player with a playoff triple-double, had 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Hawks were 12 for 39 from the field in the first half and 4 for 18 from 3-point range. Atlanta had 14 turnovers in the first half.
Johnson led the Hawks with 21 points. Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga each had 11 points.
The Knicks will face the winner of the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers series in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Meanwhile, Jaden McDaniels had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 24 points in a surprise start for the injury-ravaged Minnesota Timberwolves in a 110-98 victory over the Denver Nuggets in Game 6 that finished off another tense NBA playoff series between the rivals.
With their top three guards missing because of injuries, the Timberwolves went big with Rudy Gobert, Julius Randle and Naz Reid fueling a 64-40 advantage in points in the paint and an 50-33 edge in rebounding.
Minnesota, the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference, will start the second round at San Antonio on Monday. The second-seeded Spurs beat Portland in five games in their first-round series.
Nikola Jokic had 28 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to lead the Nuggets, but sidekick Jamal Murray struggled to get free from McDaniels and finished with just 12 points on 4-for-17 shooting. Cameron Johnson scored 27 points to lead Denver’s 10-for-27 night from deep, but Jokic and the 3-pointers simply weren’t enough to keep up with a fiercely motivated Timberwolves team.
With Ayo Dosunmu joining Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo on the inactive list, the Timberwolves were missing a big chunk of their ability to create shots.
