Zaccharie Risacher posts 33 points to lift Hawks over the Knicks

But with 52.6 to play, Dyson Daniels closed out on Towns and the shot rolled off the rim. Then Jalen Johnson grabbed the rebound, found Trae Young, who hit Clint Capela with a lob for a dunk in transition that put the Hawks up 114-111 with 46.9 to play.

The Hawks stopped the Knicks next three triple attempts and drew fouls competing for the rebounds. Their 5-of-7 shooting at the free-throw line in the final 40 seconds stretched their lead to 118-113 with 15 seconds to play.

2. With 11:00 to play in the game, Towns switched onto the Hawks’ Zaccharie Risacher. But the rookie didn’t shy away from the switch and stayed with Towns, got his hands up and blocked the layup. It led to dunk from Johnson on the other end that put the Hawks up 94-91 with 10:52 to play.

Risacher has had ups and downs this season but has remained poised as he adjusts to the speed of the NBA. He’s had double-digit scoring in three of the last four games before he dropped a career-high 33 points Wednesday night.

He scored 22 of those points in the first half and by the end of the night, he passed Grizzlies center Zach Edey for rookie points scored in a game this season. He had three assists that resulted in seven of the team’s points.

“That’s why he was the No. 1 pick,” Johnson said. “He showcased everything. It was so fun to just see him see the ball going in. It was kind of a tough stretch for pretty much a lot of us. ... I know he’s going to continue to work hard. He’s going to use this as a building block going forward.”

3. While Risacher led the Hawks in scoring, his defense popped, as well. Along with his block on Towns at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Risacher impacted the Knicks’ shooting. He did not shy away from hard closeouts that forced some misses. He also recovered quickly on the initial blow-bys to get back into position.

“I feel like, from my perspective, I start every game with the same mentality, with the same mindset,” Risacher said. “I just want to compete, want to do my best.”

With 5:10 to play in the game, Risacher moved his feet, guiding Knicks guard Deuce McBride deep into the paint. McBride turned and hit a jumper but the shot rolled off the basket and Risacher grabbed the rebound.

Much of his hard work on the defensive end wound up on the stat sheet, with him grabbing six rebounds, as well as two blocked shots and three steals.

4. Despite the Knicks making a season-high 22 3s, the Hawks’ defense opened up more opportunities for scoring. The Hawks attempted 100 shots, thanks to some stifling defense that allowed them to score 15 points off 16 Knicks turnovers.

“I thought we did better with our transition defense as the game progressed,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said.

5. The Hawks’ offense thrived off their defense with four of the team’s starters ending the night in double-digit scoring.

Young bounced back from his night on Monday where he scored just two points due to a right rib sprain. He scored 23 points, had six rebounds, 10 assists and two steals. Johnson added 23 points, had 15 rebounds and was three assists shy of a triple-double.

Meanwhile, Clint Capela ended the night perfect from the floor, making all eight of his field-goal attempts. He also made two critical free throws with 1:09 to play that kicked off their closing 11-5 run.

Stat to know

4 -- Zaccharie Risacher (age 19 years, 212 days) became the fourth-youngest player in the NBA since 1977-78 to finish a game with 30-plus points and zero turnovers behind LeBron James (19 years, 36 days), Kobe Bryant (19 years, 116 days) and LaMelo Ball (19 years, 167 days).

Quotable

“He basically just tells me to, ‘Shoot the ball.” -- Zaccharie Risacher on what coach Quin Snyder said to instill confidence in him.

Up next

The Hawks head to Detroit to face the Pistons at Little Caesars Arena on Friday before returning home to face the Bulls on Saturday.