With the holidays upon us, games filled with Christmas cheer could be expected -- but that did not go according to plan as the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks tangled. And tangle is the right word, as Carmelo Anthony and Thabo Sefolosha had words -- and exchanged more than season's greetings.

Carmelo and the Knicks would be coming off a loss on Christmas day to the Celtics, and would visit Sefolosha and the Atlanta Hawks.

The ATL score 8 of the first ten points, but Melo is able to hit from the outside to trim the margin to three.

Atlanta try and find the range, but Paul Millsap's triple is off, but Dwight Howard gets the rebound, one of his 22 boards, and finds Kyle Korver who connects. hosts up 2.

Second quarter and more long-distance shooting -- Kristaps Porzingis nails the trey. 24 for the unicorn, and the Knickerbockers lead by 8.

But the Hawks, go on a run and take the lead, Denis Schroeder beats his man and gets to the cup for the And1. 6-point advantage.

Thats when things get testy -- look under the hoop after this missed chot, Carmelo Anthony and Sefolosha get tangled up. Melo grabs the Swiss guard by the throat. Kind of a no-no. He gets ejected, and the Knicks are without their star.

Derrick Rose would try and pick up the slack -- as he knifes into the lane for 2. He had 26, as NYC lead by 8.

Hawks continue to fight back, and take the lead -- but team Gotham get out on the break, Joakim Noah takes a million steps and throws it down to give his side a 1-point lead.

It would be tight the rest of the way -- kent Bazemore hitting the jumper. 78-78 game. Millsap gets away with a charge, and lays off to Dwight for the dunk. Hawks lead by 5. Then Schroder beats his man -- 7-point lead. As the Atlanta guard finishes with a game high 27.

About a dozen seconds to go, and New York cuts the lead to 1, Rose looking to put his team in front, but he gets the ball stripped. Atlanta holds on for a 4-point win, and the hard feelings from earlier are put aside.

In other games, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson combined for 71 points in Golden State's win. Milwaukee dumped Detroit. Jimmy Butler hit a buzzer-beater to lift Chicago over Brooklyn. New Orleans edges the Clippers, San Antonio rolls Phoenix. And Karl-Anthony Towns had his first career-triple double, but it came in a loss, as Minny fell to Detroit.