ATLANTA -- The Atlanta Hawks, last year's top seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs, are returning to form. So are the fading New York Knicks.
Forward Paul Millsap scored 22 points, leading Atlanta past the Knicks 117-98 on Saturday at Philips Arena.
The Hawks overcame an early 15-point deficit to win for the sixth straight time. Atlanta (20-12) has surged into second place in the Eastern Conference, just percentage points behind the first-place Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Knicks (14-17) were manhandled in the paint by the smaller Hawks and dropped their third straight game. Atlanta outscored the Knicks 62-32 in the paint.
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New York forward Carmelo Anthony returned to the lineup after missing a loss at Cleveland on Wednesday with a sprained ankle. Anthony scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead the Knicks.
Nine of Anthony's points came in the first quarter, before the Hawks adjusted.
"We just tried to make his catches more difficult, tried to make him catch it further away from the basket, so his height and his size weren't as impactful," Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said of slowing Anthony down. "We played more physical and made it tougher."
Rookie forward Kristaps Porzingis finished with nine points. He had an X-ray on a swollen finger after the game but said he was fine.
The Hawks led 87-75 entering the fourth quarter. The lead quickly ballooned to 20 on a straight-on 3-pointer from guard Kyle Korver with 6:10 to play. It was the sharp-shooting Korver's only bucket of the game, but his teammates picked up the slack.
Forward Mike Scott came off the bench to score 18 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, and forward Kent Bazemore also connected twice from long range. Forward Al Horford added 19 points, and point guard Jeff Teague finished with 17 for the Hawks.
The Knicks got off to a sizzling start, shooting 63.6 percent in the first quarter. They led 18-4 midway through the quarter, but the Hawks weathered the barrage and climbed back into the game in the second quarter. Teague beat the buzzer with a 28-foot 3-pointer that cut Knicks' lead to 63-60 at halftime.
"They started out hot," Horford said. "They were just making a lot of shots. We just stayed with it. We stayed focused. We just kept grinding and we just kept playing our style of play."
Forwards Lance Thomas and Derrick Williams each came off the bench to score 12 points for the Knicks, who had 19 assists in the first half, but only six in the second half.
"It was our mentality," New York coach Derek Fisher said. "We're still haven't some growing pains with understanding that the game is easier for us when we have 19 assists in the half, not six."
The Hawks took their first lead, 71-68, on a 3-pointer by Bazemore with 7:56 left in the third quarter. Atlanta has scored at 100 points in all six games of their current winning streak.
"We started the third quarter, to come out and try to take control of the game right away," Fisher said. "We couldn't match their speed, their ball movement and the way they played offensively. We couldn't slow them down and stop the penetration, so they continued to get into our paint almost the entire second half."
The Knicks committed 22 turnovers, leading to 22 Atlanta points.
NOTES: Including Saturday's game, the Hawks and Knicks will meet in three of the teams' next five games. ... Atlanta PG Jeff Teague's 23 points Wednesday in a win over Portland were his most in 11 games. ... The Hawks sent a second-round draft pick to the Knicks for G Tim Hardaway Jr. on draft night in June. Hardaway has played in only four games so far for the Hawks and was inactive Saturday. ... The Knicks and Hawks are two of the best free-throw shooting teams in the NBA. The Knicks rank third at 81 percent, and Atlanta is fifth at 79.7 percent.
