Riding a three-game winning streak into the final game of their three-game road trip against the San Antonio Spurs, the New York Knicks suffered a narrow 134-132 loss as Julian Champagnie notched a career-high 36 points in the win. Looking to bounce back, the Knicks found themselves hosting the Atlanta Hawks on Friday without their star point guard in Trae Young.

However, Atlanta has struggled this season in games Young has played, and that reflected in the final score with the All-Star sidelined, as the Hawks won in dominant fashion 111-99, as the Knicks trailed the rest of the game after the end of the first quarter. Now losers in back-to-back games, the Knicks will have to regroup.

The Hawks and Knicks have sparked a rivalry against one another in recent years, in large part due to Trae Young playing the villain when he matches up against the Knicks. Even with him sidelined, the game was still just as important, and New York's inability to make shots cost them the game, despite nine more shot attempts.

The crowd at Madison Square Garden even booed their own team, but head coach Mike Brown was accepting of it.

"I was booing myself, inside I was like 'boo Mike, you stink', so they have a right to boo me," Brown said. 

As mentioned, a lot of New York's problems stemmed from their poor shooting, converting just 37% of their attempts from the field, going just 21% from three-point range. Additionally, they lost the points in the paint battle 58-46, but most other aspects of the game went in New York's favor.

They had the rebounding edge 52-49, but had five more offensive rebounds than Atlanta. Additionally, they shot 26% better from the free throw line and narrowly had the edge in fast break points. However, nobody on the Knicks was efficient, as Jalen Brunson's 24 points came with a 1-of-9 rate from beyond the arc.

Obviously being without Karl-Anthony Towns, Mitchell Robinson, and Josh Hart doesn't help the Knicks, but teams like the Denver Nuggets have shown this season they can succeed without key starters or players on the floor.

Looking at this Knicks roster, they are clearly talented at guard, with Brunson leading the way followed by a strong group behind him. Therefore, heading into the trade deadline period, it seems as though this Knicks team might be better off dealing one of those guards in exchange for some forward help.

Guerschon Yabusele hasn't played the way he did last year, so perhaps pairing him in a deal with one of the reserve guards could land this Knicks team another player or two to boost this rotation.