Knicks' Mental Edge Over Hawks Already Shining Through Before Game 1

The Knicks enter their first-round matchup versus the Hawks as the favorite to move on in the playoffs. New York has the more experienced roster, more recent playoff history (as well as success), and the superior talent.

The Knicks also have home-court advantage, which appears to already be in Atlanta's head. While New York is business as usual, the Hawks have been worried about simulating the Madison Square Garden environment in early practices this week. The team went as far to play sounds from the MSG organ to prepare for what awaits them.

The Hawks played audio of the Madison Square Garden organist and crowd noise at practice today to ready for the atmosphere. "It was like Madison Square Garden in Atlanta today," CJ McCollum told reporters there.
— Steve Popper (@StevePopper) April 14, 2026

Though this is a small thing in the grand scheme, it also shows real worries from Atlanta's staff about an uncontrollable factor, giving Jalen Brunson and company a further advantage on the mental side of this series.

Hawks look every bit the underdog with practice preparations for Knicks series

Simply put, the Knicks and Hawks head into their matchup with two completely different dynamics that help set the tone for this series.

New York has the weight of being the favorite, which has seen past contenders crumble. But they've also got reasons to be confident this is just their first step toward something greater this postseason.

After all, Mike Brown's squad ended the season as the No. 3 seed in a tightly contested Eastern Conference, winning every game in April that mattered and finishing with a better record than last year's ECF team. Their latest win streak included taking down these same Hawks on the road, in a playoff-like atmosphere, 108-105 on April 6.

The fruits of NY's labor include not having to worry about travel to begin its playoff journey, which is a huge mental load off of everyone's shoulders. This maximizes their break before the first round by clearing any interruptions, allowing players and staff to have every bit of time to prepare for how to take down Atlanta.

Knowing a ferocious fan base is also awaiting the starting lineup when it takes the floor provides even more of an internal confidence boost. The electric energy of a positive play by the home team at MSG is euphoric, and momentum will be key in postseason games that are much tighter than the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Hawks are hearing this entire week that they're the underdog, and that their chances to advance are slim.

This kind of scenario has set up some of the biggest upsets in NBA history when a team channels those doubts into shutting the haters up. Look no further than the 2021 playoffs, when Trae Young embraced the moment and sent the favored, 4-seed Knicks (who had home-court advantage) packing in just five games.

But this isn't the same Atlanta. Though they've bounced back and become a playoff team, they were dangerously close to being in the Play-In Tournament. The Hawks also went just 6-4 to close the campaign, along with a 22-19 record on the road. The Knicks also went 22-19 away from Madison Square Garden, but they defended their home court much better, notching 30 home wins compared to ATL's 24.

The Hawks turning their practices into MSG-lite just makes any worries about the environment even greater. Now it's on every single player's mind, and their coaches are showing them they're scared about it, too. Brushing it off may have made guys more confident about walking into a lion's den, as opposed to playing up how dangerous the lion is.

All of this helps create an extra distraction on Atlanta's end in preparation for a series that already demanded its all to overcome, helping increase New York's edge in the mind game department of this series.

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