{"id":716168,"date":"2026-04-22T21:51:16","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T21:51:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716168\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T21:51:16","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T21:51:16","slug":"knicks-aim-to-protect-the-paint-better-in-game-3-vs-hawks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716168\/","title":{"rendered":"Knicks aim to protect the paint better in Game 3 vs. Hawks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Knicks<\/a> boast a distinct size advantage in their first-round playoff series, but that didn\u2019t deter the Atlanta Hawks enough in Game 2.<\/p>\n

The Hawks scored 42 points in the paint in the second half alone, fueling a series-tying 107-106 win<\/a> at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.<\/p>\n

Those are the most paint points the Knicks have allowed in a half all season, according to head coach Mike Brown, who stressed the need to improve in that area going into Thursday night\u2019s Game 3 in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not execute our defense, and you can see it on film,\u201d Brown said after Wednesday\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

Both of the Knicks\u2019 top centers, 7-footers Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson, tower over Atlanta\u2019s tallest starter, the 6-10 Onyeka Okongwu. The Hawks are without their No. 2 big man, 6-11 Jock Landale, who is sitting with a high ankle sprain.<\/p>\n

But run-and-gun Atlanta repeatedly got good looks near the basket Monday, both on drives and in transition.<\/p>\n

Jalen Johnson made six baskets in the paint in the second half. Four came on drives, and another came on a tip-in, before Johnson finished his night with a timely fastbreak dunk in the waning seconds.<\/p>\n

CJ McCollum scored two such baskets in the game\u2019s final 2:08, the first on a driving lay-up and the second on a floater.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s after the Hawks totaled 42 paint points in their 113-102 loss in Game 1 on Saturday night, and after they scored 16 points in the paint in Monday\u2019s first half.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have that physicality that we did in Game 1 and in the first half [of Game 2]. I think that was the biggest thing,\u201d Knicks guard Josh Hart said Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you lose that physicality, then you allow them to move at their own pace and dictate their offense instead of you dictating it. We\u2019ve just got to make sure we\u2019re physical, have attention to detail and are focused for a full 48 [minutes].\u201d<\/p>\n

Hart said he can imagine the Hawks attempting to pound the paint again to begin Game 3 but that the Knicks will be ready to adjust to anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they start the game how they ended it, we\u2019re focused on that,\u201d Hart said. \u201cIf not, we\u2019re focused on what the next piece is, and the next piece. If we focus on ourselves, we\u2019ll be in the game at the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

LINEUP DECISIONS<\/p>\n

In Game 2, the Knicks were outscored by five points early in the second quarter and three points early in the fourth during the minutes in which Jalen Brunson and Towns were both out of the game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For much of the season, Brown staggered the playing time of his All-Stars, ensuring at least one of them was on the court at all times. But down the stretch, the Knicks began sitting Brunson and Towns simultaneously in order to optimize their minutes together.<\/p>\n

Asked Wednesday if he remained confident using lineups with neither Brunson nor Towns, Brown said, \u201cAnything\u2019s open to discussion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m comfortable with all of our guys playing, no matter who the five [players are] out there,\u201d Brown said. \u201cBut at the end of the day \u2013 just like offensively, defensively, we changed both of those things during the year \u2013 anything can happen. When you\u2019re in the playoffs, everything should be on the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

BOUNCE BACK<\/p>\n

The Knicks led by 12 points to begin Monday night\u2019s fourth quarter and by as many as 14 points in the second half, only to stagnate down the stretch as the Hawks rallied to victory.<\/p>\n

Brown and his players remain confident they can bounce back in Game 3<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always want to get better in a win, but sometimes you need a loss to dive in on the things that you\u2019re not doing well,\u201d forward Mikal Bridges said Wednesday. \u201cThat\u2019s a good team, too, so it\u2019s not like it\u2019s going to be easy. You\u2019ve just got to learn from it and bring that fire in the next game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown shared a similar sentiment, saying, \u201cAny time you struggle, especially if you\u2019re a resilient group, it can be a good thing. And our group is resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if there are many teams that have gone 16-0 on their run [to a championship],\u201d Brown said, \u201cso you\u2019ve to figure out how to win on the road if you expect to be who you are anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Knicks boast a distinct size advantage in their first-round playoff series, but that didn\u2019t deter the Atlanta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716169,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,288,2990,327,563,304,1260,3357,6,11],"class_list":{"0":"post-716168","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-jalen-brunson","14":"tag-jalen-johnson","15":"tag-josh-hart","16":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","17":"tag-knicks","18":"tag-mikal-bridges","19":"tag-mike-brown","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-nba-playoffs"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116450576549882808","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=716168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716169"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716168"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}