It was often an overlooked part of New York’s playoff resume: The Knicks evolved into a good defensive team. Since the calendar flipped to Jan. 1, the Knicks have had the sixth-best defense in the NBA.
The Atlanta Hawks found out about that. For the first 19 minutes of the second half, the Hawks scored just 32 points (14 fewer than the Knicks) on 37.1% shooting and went 3-of-15 from 3-point range after New York cranked up the defensive pressure. Even Karl-Anthony Towns was making defensive plays (and hitting some 3-pointers).
Towns and Jalen Brunson combined for 53 points and lifted the Knicks past the Hawks 113-102 Saturday in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Game 2 is set for Monday at Madison Square Garden.
For Knicks fans hoping their team can take the next step this season after making the conference finals for the first time in 25 years last season, this game was exactly what they wanted to see. OG Anunoby played elite defense and added 19 points, while Josh Hart had 10 points and 14 rebounds.
It was Brunson who got the Knicks off to a fast start, scoring 19 in the first quarter.
CJ McCollum led Atlanta with 26 points, while Jalen Johnson added 23. While the Hawks made some runs, their offense wasn’t consistent against the Knicks defense.
New York, on the other hand, looked like the best version of themselves. The challenge now for Mike Brown’s crew is to maintain that.
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