Atlanta Hawks Playoff Rotation: What’s Changing vs New York

The Atlanta Hawks are now two games into their series against the New York Knicks and the vibes shifted in a big way last night with the Hawks come from behind win in the fourth quarter to even the series.

One of the biggest differences between the NBA playoffs and regular season is how teams approach it from a rotation standpoint. Rotations usually tighten and the starters are playing more minutes given how much is on the line in each game.

In the first game vs New York, the Hawks kept their usual starting lineup of CJ McCollum, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Dyson Daniels, Jalen Johnson, and Onyeka Okongwu with a bench rotation of Jonathan Kuminga, Gabe Vincent, Mo Gueye and Zaccharie Risacher.

Let's look at what changed at game two and what that could mean for game three.

Rotation changes

Jonathan Kuminga Atlanta Hawk — Apr 18, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) shoots the ball as New York Knicks guard Miles McBride (2) defends during the second half of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The starting lineup remained the same for Atlanta, but there were some minor changes to the bench rotation in terms of players and minutes.

For players, Zaccharie Risacher did not play in this game and his minutes were replaced by Corey Kispert, who played nearly nine minutes. Due to Gueye getting injured early in the game, the backup big man's minutes were replaced by Tony Bradley, who played 12 minutes and had a decent impact on the game. Vincent played his usual 14 minutes, scoring three points.

The big difference was the increase in minutes for Jonthan Kuminga and the fact that he was in the closing lineup over Dyson Daniels. Kuminga played nearly 35 minutes in last night's game and scored 19 points on 7-12 shooting from the field. His defense on Karl-Anthony Towns was huge in the fourth quarter, as Towns did not score a single point, and Kuminga was a huge reason why the Hawks won.

So what could be in store for Atlanta in game three?

I don't think that anything is going to change with the starting lineup. Just because Kuminga closed over Daniels last night does not mean that he is suddenly going to jump into the starting lineup. He could still close and be used to guard Towns if needed, but I don't think he will start.

How about the rest of the rotation?

While he was able to come back to the game, Mo Gueye did not look like himself after being injured in the first quarter. If Gueye can't play, Tony Bradley should see minutes again. If Gueye does play, will Bradley see minutes?

Given how well his nine minutes stint went last night, I would not be surprised if Kispert plays again tomorrow. If it does not go well, Risacher could come back into the rotation.

I don't expect any surprises for the Hawks in their rotation tomorrow. Kuminga will play large minutes, Vincent will play his usual stint, Kispert likely plays, and either Gueye and/or Bradley will backup Okongwu.

These adjustments seemed to work very nicely for the Hawks in their game two win. Will it work in game three on Thursday?

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