Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored 36 points but the Atlanta Hawks fell to the New York Knicks 108-105 Monday in a game that felt like a postseason preview.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker scored a game-high 36 points and watched a potential tying heave from CJ McCollum get waved off at the buzzer, and when it was over, he was already thinking about what comes next.
"This is like a lesson," Alexander-Walker said after the Atlanta Hawks fell to the New York Knicks 108-105 on Monday night at State Farm Arena. "It's good for us to be battle-tested headed for the postseason. That's a good team. Now we know how much better we can be. And we know their strengths, they know ours, and it's how do we make an adjustment should we meet in the playoffs."
The atmosphere in a sellout State Farm Arena — 11 lead changes, eight ties, Atlanta leading by as many as 10 before watching New York claw back — only reinforced the stakes.
"The atmosphere, I would definitely say it felt like a playoff game," Alexander-Walker said. "I've been in quite a few. I'm just really proud that, for whatever the experience is on the team, how everyone handled it and their focus and approach in trying to win the game. Yeah, we didn't win, but there's a lesson to it."
The numbers tell the story of where Atlanta's lesson lives. The Hawks committed 15 turnovers that New York converted into 21 points. They hauled in 19 offensive rebounds and converted just five of them. And despite Alexander-Walker connecting on 7 of 11 3-point attempts and going 5-for-5 from the free throw line, the Knicks outscored Atlanta 52-34 in the paint behind Jalen Brunson's 30 points and 13 assists and Karl-Anthony Towns' 21 points and 12 rebounds.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder pointed to the Knicks' physicality as the decisive factor down the stretch, in a game Atlanta is otherwise built to win.
"Down the stretch, I thought their physicality played a role with our execution," Snyder said. "We've been good in those situations. Tonight was a little different game. We haven't been in a lot of possession games like that."
Jalen Johnson's double-double — 21 points and 11 rebounds — and Dyson Daniels' 11 points and 12 rebounds gave Atlanta a foundation to build on. But Johnson said the closing minutes made clear what the Hawks need to sharpen as the regular season winds down.
"I think for us, our biggest thing is just continue to execute at a high level, especially with games coming down to the wire like they did tonight," Johnson said.
If the bracket breaks the way Atlanta's locker room expects it might, Monday's film is required viewing. Alexander-Walker made sure to say so.
"We know their strengths, they know ours," he said. "It's how do we make an adjustment should we meet in the playoffs."
Atlanta travels to face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.