Final Score Picks and Predictions For Tonight's Hawks-Knicks Game Six Matchup

Can the Hawks send the series back to Madison Square Garden for game seven or will their season come to an end tonight?

Apr 28, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) drives to the basket around New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) as Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) sets a pick during the third quarter of game five of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

It is win or go home time in Atlanta.

The Hawks enter tonight's game against the New York Knicks in need of a win to prolong their season and shift the series back to Madison Square Garden for a game seven.

They are going to need to play much, much, much better than they have in the last two games however. Atalnta's offense has been subpar all series and they have been one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the playoffs. Their bench is giving them nothing unless Jonathan Kuminga goes for a big game and Atlanta's coaches and players have not found a way to slow down Karl-Anthony Towns.

It was not that long ago that the Hawks had the momentum in this series, but the Knicks' dominant performances in the last two games have tilted things back in their favor. With the season on the line tonight, what kind of performance are we going to get from the Hawks?

Picks and Predictions

The last two games have been about as noncompetitive as you can get in the playoffs and both ends of the floor are going to have to be better than what they have been as of late.

The offense has been the bigger problem. Atlanta is getting a subpar series from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker and in the last two games, they are not getting enough from CJ McCollum and Jonathan Kuminga.

Atlanta is shooting 32.2% from three in the playoffs and they need a hot shooting game in the worst way if they want to force a game seven.

Dyson Daniels has been the Hawks' best player in this series, but I do think that he is going to have to get more aggressive when the Knicks give him space. That does not mean that he needs to be shooting a lot of threes, but getting in the paint and finding open players or going to his floater needs to happen more.

Will Quin Snyder have any last gasp decision to make in terms of defensive assignments or rotation decisions? The bench has been poor, but the answer might be to play the starters close to 40 minutes while giving Kuminga, Gabe Vincent, Mo Gueye and/or Tony Bradley brief stints. Corey Kispert has not given the Hawks productive minutes and I think that Snyder needs to either cut him from the rotation or play either Zaccharie Risacher or Buddy Hield in his place. There is no guarantee that they will be better, but they can't be worse and Snyder has to try something different.

Defensively, the Hawks played their worst game of the series on Tuesday. I think that Snyder needs to go back to deploying Dyson Daniels on Jalen Brunson as much as possible instead of guarding Karl-Anthony Towns. The Hawks have to find a way to limit Towns more than they have so far in this series.

I would like to believe that the Hawks are going to come out with more fire than they have in the last two games, but it feels like the Knicks have asserted themselves as the better team and the Hawks don't have any answers. It might not be a blowout, but I think the Knicks win and the Hawks head into the offseason.

Final Score: Knicks 112, Hawks 104