Paul Millsap was the marathon man.
The Hawks All-Star power forward tied a franchise record by playing 61 minutes in a dramatic 142-139 four overtime victory over the Knicks Sunday afternoon. Millsap had 37 points, 19 rebounds and seven assists as he played the final 35:52 of the game, including every minute of the fourth quarter and four overtimes.
“There was no chance I was coming out,” Millsap said.
The Hawks had three players with double-doubles in the victory. Dwight Howard had 19 points and 13 rebounds before fouling out and Dennis Schroder had 23 points and 15 assists.
The Hawks also had three other players reach career-highs in minutes played with Tim Hardaway Jr. (58), Schroder (55) and Kent Bazemore (50).
“Pretty amazing game, huh?,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “It felt like both sides had it won several times and both teams made big plays and big shots. There are so many swings of emotion. Pretty special effort. We kept grinding for 68 minutes instead of 48.”
The four overtimes were necessary when Carmelo Anthony tied the game with jump shots at the end of regulation and the first overtime. He would foul out with a game-high 45 points late in the second overtime. The Knicks’ Courtney Lee hit a 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in the second overtime to force a third overtime. Schroder scored on a layup with 3.0 seconds left to force a fourth overtime.
The Hawks finally won the game when Kent Bazemore scored the first eight points of the fourth session, Millsap scored on a free throw and a put-back and Schroder hit a final free throw. Still, Lee had a good look at a corner 3-pointer as time expired that would have forced another extra period.
It was the 11th four overtime game in NBA history and the Hawks have been involved in three of them – all wins.
The Hawks (28-20) won the season series from the Knicks, 3-1. They also got double-figure scoring from Hardaway (19) and Mike Dunleavy (12).
The Knicks (21-28) lost four players to fouls with Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, Joakim Noah and Kyle O’Quinn.
“Everything different and challenging to me is fun,” Millsap said. “It was fun. I don’t ever want to do that again but it was fun definitely.”
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