Facing a potential 3-1 deficit, the New York Knicks needed a coordinated response to avoid being sent to the brink of elimination. Predictably, they came out desperate today, and the result was a hard-fought, well-earned victory (114-98) that tied the series at 2-2.
OG Anunoby led all scorers in this one with 22 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block on 40.0% shooting and 20.0% shooting from three. Karl-Anthony Towns, meanwhile, finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists, two steals, and zero blocks on 60.0% shooting and 50.0% shooting from three. At point guard, Jalen Brunson dished 19 points, zero rebounds, three assists, one steal, and zero blocks on 38.9% shooting and 42.9% shooting from three.
For the Hawks, veteran sharpshooter CJ McCollum was the leading scorer with 17 points, one rebound, three assists, one steal, and two blocks on 53.5% shooting (0-4 from three). Nickeil Alexander-Walker, meanwhile, put up 15 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal, and two blocks on 53.3% shooting from the field (0-4 shooting from three). Finally, young power forward Jalen Johnson tallied 14 points, three rebounds, five assists, zero steals, and zero blocks on 33.3% shooting and 20.0% shooting from three.
At 2-2, the series is far from over, but it’s impossible to deny that all the momentum is with New York right now. As the third seed in the East (53-29), they were favored to win this matchup, and games like this show us why. On paper, they have everything they need to advance, and you can bet this latest win upped their confidence, given what we saw from both teams that could hint at the trajectory of the series.
Big Three Stepped Up
While the Knicks are frequently in the mix for primetime athletes like Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James, they already have a star-studded core they fully trust: Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Despite their mixed standing with the fanbase, they showed up tonight and delivered an elite performance across the board. The result was an offense that held up throughout the game, with the scoring load evenly split between the stars.
Karl-Anthony Towns was the biggest stand-out, and you could tell he was looking to be aggressive from the jump. It wasn’t a perfect showing by any stretch, but his triple-double (20 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists) goes to show how active he was on the court tonight. His aggression and hot-making opened up the game for everyone else, helping Brunson (19 points) and Anunoby (22 points, 10 rebounds) get going offensively.
31 Missed Threes
The Hawks had all the momentum going into Game 4, but their over-reliance on the three-pointer ultimately spelled their doom. Out of the entire roster, not a single Hawks player scored above 20 points today, and only two shot above 50% from the field. As a team, Atlanta shot just 34-83 from the field (41.0%), including a whopping 10-41 from three (24.4%). It’s hard to win when you’re missing that many threes, and it becomes even harder when the team continues to take them even when they are not falling.
The Knicks also missed a lot of threes (14-31), but they were much smarter and more selective with their shots. They took what the Hawks gave them rather than trying to force the issue, a lesson that Atlanta learned far too late. Going into Game 5, the Hawks will have to mix up the game plan, or they risk another game like this, where the team fails to adjust on a bad shooting night.
Championship Defense On Display
While the Hawks’ shot selection only made things easier for New York, you have to credit their defense for the execution and attention to detail. With the paint locked down and nearly every shot getting contested, scoring did not come easily for Atlanta, and you could see their young players scrambling to find an answer. Their efforts were in vain, however, as the Knicks forced 18 turnovers, which they turned into 21 points.
Specifically, Josh Hart was making a notable impact on that end, and the numbers showed it. Besides finishing with a near double-double (10 points, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and zero blocks on 40.0% shooting and 20.0% shooting from three), he was all over the court as a defensive pest, forcing turnovers and setting the tone for his team to be aggressive right out of the gate.
Wasted Transition Opportunities
The Hawks were one of the league’s best transition teams in the regular season, ranking third at 18.1 per game. In Game 4, however, the Knicks have somehow neutralized that area of their game. In fact, through the first 43:21 minutes, the Hawks had zero fast-break points, an astounding number for any team. By the end of the game, they only had seven, all of which came in garbage time.
More than anything, the stat shows how badly the Hawks were getting outworked. As the Knicks played with increasing desperation (following public scrutiny), Atlanta failed to match their intensity, leading to easy scoring opportunities that proved decisive. In the end, the Knicks seemingly just wanted it more, and every player gave that little extra effort, which may have just saved their season.
Uneven Depth Chart
The Hawks have a balanced and talented starting lineup that can compete with the best of the best in the NBA. Off the bench, however, is where things get murky. Gabe Vincent and Jonathan Kuminga gave 20 points for the second unit, but it was hardly enough to keep up with their opponents. On a night where almost every Hawks player was out of sorts, the team lacked that spark off the bench to help ignite a game-changing run.
The Knicks did not have those problems. Collectively, Miles McBride, Jose Alvarado, Jordan Clarkson, Landry Shamet, Tyler Kolek, and Mitchell Robinson combined for 35 points on the Knicks’ bench. Unlike the Hawks’ bench unit, however, the role players were making an impact in other ways, such as on defense, where Jose Alvarado secured three steals. Clearly, New York has more guys that it can trust on the roster, and that difference in depth may just decide the series.
