The New York Knicks suffered a gut-wrenching loss in Game 1 of their series against the Atlanta Hawks, but a chance to redeem themselves comes this Wednesday. Will the Knicks rebound with a victory? Or will the Hawks take a 2-0 series lead to Atlanta? Check out our preview of this game below.
Trae Young had his own Reggie Miller moment at the Madison Square Garden, as he buried the game-winning basket in the clutch to give the Hawks a 107-105 win in Game 1. Young finished with a game-high 32 points with 10 assists, while shooting 11 of 23 from the field. The game was evenly matched, but Young spelled the difference in favor of his team. The Knicks did not have an answer for Young, with the other Hawks willingly playing second fiddles to the former Oklahoma Sooners star. The Hawks are letting Young create for himself and practically for the rest of the team, though Bogdan Bogdanovic also came up with 18 points, while John Collins had 12 points. Speaking of Collins, he helped a lot in containing Julius Randle, who struggled mightily in Game 1. That’s a nice tone that the Hawks’ defense had also set for this series.
The Hawks are 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games after a win.
The Knicks had their first playoff game after almost 10 years spoiled by Young and the Hawks, but there’s no reason for them to be overly concerned, just yet. Hopefully for the Knicks, Randle can figure out the Hawks’ defense quickly after he scored 15 points on a poor 6-of-23 shooting from the field. The Knicks might also have to adjust their rotation, perhaps leaving Elfrid Payton out of the rotation entirely. Payton started but had zero points in eight minutes. Instead, New York could give the PG reins to Immanuel Quickley, who had 10 points, three assists, and two rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. Alec Burks had 27 points in 26 minutes, and he’ll look to provide extra firepower for the Knicks as a reserve. New York’s bench was a big positive for the Knicks in Game 1, as aside from Burks and Quickley, Derrick Rose also scored 17 points, though he had five of the team’s 11 turnovers.
The Knicks are 5-0-1 against the spread in their last six games after a two-day rest.
