The New York Knicks take on the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena on Saturday night.

Friday night, the Knicks (10-9) had the misfortune of tangling with a team even hotter than the Hawks squad they'll face Saturday night, and they dropped a 118-97 decision to those Phoenix Suns, New York's fifth loss in the last eight contests. Kemba Walker led the way with 17 points, adding three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Immanuel Quickley furnished 16 points, four assists and two rebounds. Evan Fournier netted 11 points, five rebounds and one assist, while R.J. Barrett mustered just 10 points, three boards and one steal.

The Knicks will likely list Derrick Rose (ankle) and Taj Gibson (groin) as no better than questionable for Friday's game.

The Hawks (11-9) continue to leave an ugly six-game skid firmly in the rearview mirror, as they've recorded seven straight wins following that stretch. Their most recent success came Friday night at the expense of the Memphis Grizzlies, which lost Ja Morant to a knee injury in the first half during a 132-100 win for Atlanta. Trae Young led the Hawks with 31 points, adding 10 assists. Clint Capela followed with a 23-point, 17-point double-double that included two assists, three blocks and one steal. John Collins delivered 21 points, eight boards, two assists, one steal and one block. Cam Reddish led the second unit with 14 points.

The Hawks project to go into Saturday's game without any long-term injuries to report.

Saturday's contest marks the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The Knicks swept the three-game 2020-21 regular-season series from the Hawks but then fell to Atlanta by a 4-1 margin in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.