![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/627e7889940e5ed866d8b3db1f771125.jpeg\"\/)
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Knicks Hawks<\/p>\n
Eventually, the talent discrepancy revealed itself. Eventually, the experience discrepancy revealed itself.<\/p>\n
When they did, the game became a mismatch, and the Knicks blew it wide open.<\/p>\n
The Hawks were mostly as advertised \u2014 young, athletic, full of confidence. And this wasn\u2019t necessarily a vintage Knicks showing \u2014 there were a few areas of concern. Their defense<\/a>, for starters, was porous until a dramatic second-half turnaround.<\/p>\n They were made to sweat a bit. But in the second half, they dragged the Hawks into the deep end and watched Atlanta sink en route to a 113-102 Game 1 win Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.<\/p>\n But these Knicks don\u2019t often make anything easy. They led by 19 with 3:14 left in the game before the Hawks ripped off an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to eight with 1:39 left and make it interesting. The Knicks stabilized and avoided catastrophe.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a 7-to-11 [point] lead for the majority of the second half,\u201d Jalen Brunson said. \u201cAnd then be able to push it to 16, 18, [but] then just finished the fourth not as well as I would like, as well as we would like.<\/p>\n Jalen Brunson celebrates after hitting a 3-pointer in the first quarter of the Knicks\u2019 113-102 Game 1 win over the Hawks on April 18, 2026 at Madison Square Garden. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n \u201cWe know they\u2019re going to be ready for Game 2.\u201d<\/p>\n Brunson came out firing and had 19 points \u2014 on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range \u2014 in the first quarter. But it was actually the start of the fourth quarter \u2014 with Brunson on the bench \u2014 that the Knicks had their best stretch. They outscored the Hawks by seven points \u2014 to take a 16-point lead \u2014 before Brunson checked back in with 5:07 left in the game. Brunson only went 1-for-11 from the field after the first quarter and finished with 28 points.<\/p>\n The Knicks led by as many as 11 early in the second quarter, but the Hawks used a 19-8 run to tie the game. They outscored the Knicks by four points in the second quarter and, after Onyeka Okongwu\u2019s buzzer-beater 3-pointer, only trailed by two at halftime.<\/p>\n The Knicks, though, tightened up defensively and shut down the Hawks coming out of the break. They held Atlanta to 8-for-23 shooting from the field in the third quarter as they rebuilt their lead.<\/p>\n And that\u2019s golden territory for the Knicks. They are the best fourth-quarter team in the NBA and entered Saturday 46-2 when leading to start the fourth quarter. Now, they\u2019re 47-2 \u2014 and 1-0 in the postseason.<\/p>\n Karl-Anthony Towns drives on Mouhamed Gueye during the third quarter of the Knicks\u2019 Game 1 win over the Hawks. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n \u201cOur transition defense was better,\u201d coach Mike Brown said. \u201cOur ability to defend their small-small pick-and-rolls was better. And then our ability to keep them off the glass during that time was a lot better.<\/p>\n \u201cIt allowed us to get out and run and attack them in transition. That\u2019s something we have to do while communicating for as close to 48 minutes as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a bit of a roller coaster for Karl-Anthony Towns, who did not score his first points until 4:50 left in the second quarter or hit his first field goal until the 2:53 mark. Towns averaged 28.5 points in the two regular-season games he played against the Hawks \u2014 his most against any opponent. For most of the first half, though, Okongwu won that matchup.<\/p>\n![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/416b171a246cc63ca98b5c97cfe05914.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"Karl-Anthony](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/8d8fd3770b1f3933a0a291daab642254.jpeg\"\/)
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