The Knicks Playoff Odyssey Begins With The New Look Hawks

The NBA playoff picture is set following a chaotic final day of the regular season. It looked like the New York Knicks would be heading north of the border to battle with Toronto, but thanks to the Atlanta Hawks opting to rest their players and the Orlando Magic losing against a depleted Boston team, the Knicks will begin their playoff journey Saturday night against Atlanta in the first round.

A series against the Raptors would’ve been over before it started. The Knicks won all five of their regular season matchups against Toronto, including a game of NBA Cup play, by a cumulative score of 98 points. Meanwhile, the Knicks went 2-1 against Atlanta this year, however, Mike Brown’s group was outscored by six points (341-335). Both wins were by three points, and the loss was by 12.

Atlanta chose health—and essentially the Knicks over Cleveland—yesterday against Miami as they were the only Eastern Conference team with seeding on the line to rest most of their players. The Knicks went from what looked like a possible sweep against the Raptors to what should be a competitive five or six game series with this red-hot Hawks team.

The Knicks need to make Atlanta's decision come back to bite them

The Knicks snapped Atlanta’s 13-game home winning streak last Monday, winning a tightly contested matchup with Jalen Brunson needing to put his cape on down the stretch. Knicks fans were drowning out Atlanta's fans in State Farm Arena. The previous two matchups came before the Hawks reshaped their roster with the trade of Trae Young.

It’s fitting that Young’s last game as a Hawk came against New York back in December, with the longtime nemesis turning over the ball in the waning seconds of a one-point nail-biter. For a long while, Young was the face of the Hawks and public enemy No. 1 among Knicks fans after averaging 29 points in a five-game first-round series win over the Knicks in 2021.

His series-concluding bow at center court in Madison Square Garden sparked a long-standing hatred, leading to continuous "F--- Trae Young" and “Trae is Balding! chants from the Garden faithful. He took things a step further last season, rolling fake dice on the Knicks logo after Atlanta’s 108-100 victory in the NBA Cup quarterfinal.

Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, New York Knicks — Dec 11, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) drives to the basket against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and forward Mikal Bridges (25) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The two teams are totally different five springs later. Mitchell Robinson is the lone holdover on either team, and he missed that postseason run due to a fractured hand. This Knicks team would sweep that 2021 Knicks squad. After 53 wins, this group should feel pretty darn good about beating these Hawks despite them being 22-9 since Feb. 1.

You can argue that the Knicks have four of the five best players in the series. These battle-tested Knicks have a load of playoff experience and their core has played far longer together as a unit. Atlanta is without a true center or point guard, relying mostly on emerging star Jalen Johnson to run the show.

Karl-Anthony Towns has averaged 28.1 points, 13.1 rebounds and 3.7 assists in seven games versus Onyeka Okongwu, the Hawks' starting center, since 2024-25. Meanwhile, the captain is averaging 32 points and seven assists across his last five games against Atlanta. This comes despite Dyson Daniels, one of the best defenders in the league, calling out Brunson last April.

Brunson has had Atlanta's number

"He doesn’t want me guarding him, that’s for sure," Daniels, who is nicknamed "The Great Barrier Thief," told NBA insider Jake Fischer.

This will be the fourth playoff meeting between the two franchises. The Knicks won in five games during the 1971 Eastern Conference Semifinals. They swept Atlanta in the 1999 Semifinals en route to their most recent NBA Finals berth. And of course there was 2021, but there shouldn't be any flashbacks from five years ago.

There should only be payback.

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