The Atlanta Hawks are going to Hack-A-Mitch. The Knicks — beginning with Mitchell Robinson — need to be ready.

Robinson played just 15 minutes in the Knicks’ 113-102 Game 1 victory over the Hawks to open the Eastern Conference playoff race on Saturday despite recording just one foul in his minutes on the floor.

The reason: The Hawks, who are banged up at center, intentionally fouled the Knicks’ defensive anchor after his early, impactful minutes in the first half.

And the result? A quick hook from Knicks head coach Mike Brown after Robinson missed three of his first four free throws of the night.

Robinson is a notoriously poor free throw shooter who converted on just 40% of his attempts from the charity stripe on the season.

There’s no reason to believe the Hawks will deviate from a plan yielding success in Game 1. Knicks captain Jalen Brunson maintained he has belief in his rim-protecting big man to step to the foul line and shoot it with confidence. In an earlier game this season, Brunson heaved a half court shot as an opponent attempted to intentionally fouled Robinson away from the ball. The play backfired: The nearest official never blew the whistle for a foul, and Brunson’s heave became a missed field goal attempt.

“Maybe [I would do that again] if I was a little closer. I think I shot it from pretty far,” he said after practice at the team’s Tarrytown training facility on Sunday. “But if that’s what they [the Hawks] want to do, that’s the game plan.

“Like I said before, I have the utmost confidence in my teammates, in the way I’ve been able to see them work. And we’re gonna figure things out as they go. But I don’t necessarily plan on shooting a half court shot when they’re trying to foul.”

Robinson averaged 5.7 points, 8.8  rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 0.9 steals in 19.6 minutes over 60 games stat line in his first season under Brown. He finished with three points, four rebounds and two blocks in Game 1 on Sunday.

Brown said after the victory on Saturday he will give Robinson an opportunity to make free throws if the Hawks continue to hack him away from the ball. It’s a strategy popularized by coaches attempting to slow down Shaquille O’Neal — the “Hack-a-Shaq” — who dominated as a Hall of Fame big man whose biggest weakness was converting from the free throw line.

“We will see how the game goes, and we’ll leave him in until we think we need to make a sub. And whenever we feel like we need to make a sub, we will, but we’re going to give him a chance,” said Brown. “Because if they want to start fouling him, that’ll get us closer to the bonus, and so that’s the time for us to go back to him.”

CAPTAIN CRUNCH

Brunson, the NBA’s reigning Clutch Player of the Year, was not among the finalists this time around. Instead, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver’s Jamal Murray were the final three in the running for the league’s crunch time award.

Brunson said the Knicks need to be better in the clutch to punch a 2-0 series lead before hitting the road to play in Atlanta for Game 3. He also said the Knicks need to clean up on the glass.

“Our late-game execution on both sides of the ball [and] their timely offensive rebounds when we could have went on a run or went on a longer run and extended the lead,” Brunson said after Sunday practice. “They were able to make some key baskets after some offensive rebounds and so be able to clean that up. I think those are two very important keys. There’s obviously a lot of others, but those two come to mind.”

GARDEN OF DREAMS

Josh Hart explained why Madison Square Garden in the playoffs is unlike any other arena.

“It’s one of those things you have to be there and experience it to really understand it,” he said. “Obviously the regular season is always fun. It’s always cool. And I was talking to [someone] yesterday about it. Like, the playoffs in New York is different. The vibe is different. Everything is heightened in The Garden.

“You got to experience it, man. The energy, the passion, the love is, you know, it’s. It’s crazy.”