Hawks (5) @ Knicks (4) - Playoffs Round 1 - Game 1 - SUNDAY May 23 - 7:00pm

[prophet_of_rage]

knicks gotta be careful, don't think for a second the hawks team haven't been hearing for weeks how the knicks want them in the playoffs because they view them as an easier road to the next round.

they'll coming out inspired and guns blazing, i trust thibs will have them prepared.

the hawks are good, it feels like we're not acknowledging it.

That's exactly how I feel. I hope it's just us fans saying this and not the team thinking it. The Hawks are not a team we can take lightly and even though we were 3-0 against them, regular-season matchups should be thrown out the window in the playoffs.

The Knicks go through phases where they can't put the ball in the basket or struggle to secure rebounds - and that will be where ATL can gain an upper hand. We have to put pressure on them and make them defend. Get guys like Young, Collins, and Bogdan in foul trouble and not give them open looks. Or it will be short and painful for us.

But this team has shown they are not going to lay down for anyone and will play hard. I just hope they will truly be ready because the last two games in the regular season were a little shaky.

bogdan is the person i fear a lot, he always kills the knicks and capela always gets 30 rebounds over noel and gibson

young is going to get his, especially in the playoffs the refs will make sure he looks great with it being a national televised game.

collins is going to get his too, and i think he has a personal feud with randle cooking him all year.

it's gallinari, lou, and heurter ... you gotta make sure those guys don't kill you because they can get hot.

Bogdanovic and Capela are the keys. Bogdanovox has been killing it as a back up point and is a tough wing.

And then Capela is better than what we have in the pivot spot. We have an advantage at the 4. But Julius has to be the best player in the series and we have to contain Bogdanovic and keep Capela off the boards.

Our lack of pick and roll in our offence also doesn't help because we really don't create a lot of switches or mismatches.

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[prophet_of_rage]

Knicks in 5

Week of rest, Thibs Defense, Elf going to play way less minutes (hot take - Thibs will deviate from HIS noorm and Bench Elf) and Rose starts w/ Burks and IQ our bench backcout w/ Frank in there for his situational situations

I doubt that's a hot take. Seems very logical and the extension of what we've been seeing on the court.

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[Chanel Bomber]

Read on Twitter

Right now on Fanduel and Draftkings, I’m seeing the Knicks as a slight favorite (-115 to -125 range)

I guess early money came in on the Knicks

I think it’s a 50/50 series, but I’ll say for the Knicks:

1) we have the best player in the series
2) we have home court advantage
3) we have the better coach
4) our lack of playoff experience/pedigree is negated by the fact that we’re playing a team in the same boat

I'm not sure we have the coaching advantage. I think it's a wash. It will be interesting to see who's quicker to adjust.

The Hawks are an offensive juggernaut. They have 7 rotation players with a TS over 60%, and Trae Young isn't even one of them (58.9%).

Bullock, RJ, Burks and Quickley will need to hit their 3s. If not, the Knicks won't be able to keep up and make their defense count. Capela will be a major problem on the offensive glass, so Taj might be better suited to defend against him than Noel. We don't really have the personnel to attack Trae Young, unless Rose goes off. I think this team poses more match-up problems than Miami tbh.

If the Knicks win this series, it will be in 6 or 7 games. On the other hand, I could see Atlanta winning this in 5.

[KnicksGadfly]

I wonder what Thibs does with Elfrid. He’s been getting worse and worse.

[Maury2423]

Does anybody know when the schedule and tickets drop? I’m trying to fly in from south Florida for game 1, if it’s on Saturday.

[prophet_of_rage]

I wonder what Thibs does with Elfrid. He’s been getting worse and worse.

You finished the regular season. You can't continue to embarrass a player. Drop him from the rotation unless you intend to play him normal minutes.
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[Kampuchea]

Does anybody know when the schedule and tickets drop? I’m trying to fly in from south Florida for game 1, if it’s on Saturday.

Tickets are already for sale even though game day isn’t known.

[nyknicks8016]

Does anybody know when the schedule and tickets drop? I’m trying to fly in from south Florida for game 1, if it’s on Saturday.

Tickets are already for sale even though game day isn’t known.

Tickets are not for sale, Knicks havnt released any tickets yet, season ticketholders tuesday and general public wednesday, no playoff tickets have been released..

It was just announced today the capacity

[TBri1974]

I think Atlanta being favored works in our favor - good for the Knicks to come in hungry, angry and with something to prove. I see us winning game 1 big, but this will be a tough series for sure.

[Kampuchea]

Does anybody know when the schedule and tickets drop? I’m trying to fly in from south Florida for game 1, if it’s on Saturday.

Tickets are already for sale even though game day isn’t known.

Tickets are not for sale, Knicks havnt released any tickets yet, season ticketholders tuesday and general public wednesday, no playoff tickets have been released..

It was just announced today the capacity

Oh ok, just saw some listed at these sites
https://seatgeek.com/eastern-conference-first-round-5-atlanta-hawks-at-4-new-york-knicks-home-game-1-tickets/5-22-2021-new-york-new-york-madison-square-garden/nba/5399220

[nyknicks8016]

Tickets are already for sale even though game day isn’t known.

Tickets are not for sale, Knicks havnt released any tickets yet, season ticketholders tuesday and general public wednesday, no playoff tickets have been released..

It was just announced today the capacity

Oh ok, just saw some listed at these sites
https://seatgeek.com/eastern-conference-first-round-5-atlanta-hawks-at-4-new-york-knicks-home-game-1-tickets/5-22-2021-new-york-new-york-madison-square-garden/nba/5399220

Be careful with those, i think those are season ticketholders anticipating they are going to get tickets

[HarthorneWingo]

So we don’t play until May 22 or 23. This is to nurse some nagging injuries and give Thibs and the staff plenty of time to come up with a solid game plan for the series.

They have to hit the floor with 4th quarter defense and not let up.

And run Trae to death. Wear his azz down.

I know I’m a broken record around here with this but why not put Frank on Trae for a few minutes each half? If Frank guarded Kemba during FIFA, I’m sure he can guard Trae.

[TBri1974]

I like Frank - more than most - andI think he will see situational minutes, but with Payton, Rose and Burks sharing minutes and a coach who is more likely to shrink the rotation than expand it during the off season, I see him as getting little time. Maybe for defensive stands, if Trae is killing us, or if fouls hurt us. I don't disagree with you, but I doubt he changes his rotation formula much now after getting here on this

[thebuzzardman]

Read on Twitter

Right now on Fanduel and Draftkings, I’m seeing the Knicks as a slight favorite (-115 to -125 range)

I guess early money came in on the Knicks

I think it’s a 50/50 series, but I’ll say for the Knicks:

1) we have the best player in the series
2) we have home court advantage
3) we have the better coach
4) our lack of playoff experience/pedigree is negated by the fact that we’re playing a team in the same boat

I'm not sure we have the coaching advantage. I think it's a wash. It will be interesting to see who's quicker to adjust.

The Hawks are an offensive juggernaut. They have 7 rotation players with a TS over 60%, and Trae Young isn't even one of them (58.9%).

Bullock, RJ, Burks and Quickley will need to hit their 3s. If not, the Knicks won't be able to keep up and make their defense count. Capela will be a major problem on the offensive glass, so Taj might be better suited to defend against him than Noel. We don't really have the personnel to attack Trae Young, unless Rose goes off. I think this team poses more match-up problems than Miami tbh.

If the Knicks win this series, it will be in 6 or 7 games. On the other hand, I could see Atlanta winning this in 5.

Damn. Knicks should just give up now, Hawks are so formidable.

[cgf]

I like Frank - more than most - andI think he will see situational minutes, but with Payton, Rose and Burks sharing minutes and a coach who is more likely to shrink the rotation than expand it during the off season, I see him as getting little time. Maybe for defensive stands, if Trae is killing us, or if fouls hurt us. I don't disagree with you, but I doubt he changes his rotation formula much now after getting here on this

It's tough to say. A) because Thibs has shown a lot of growth as a coach from his Bulls days to now, and B) because the games were coming so fast & our fight for this spot was so intense that we never really had any time to experiment or adjust to a new rotation...until this week.

I'm expecting Elf to continue to play his 6-7 minutes a half, but Thibs has clearly recognized the issue with Elf...as evidenced by his consistently waining PT over the course of the season...and we now have both the time to make a change & the personnel for Thibs to start:

Burks
Bullock
Barrett
Randle
Noel

with Rose, IQ & Taj getting significant PT off the bench; while Obi & Frank see only intermittent cameos of <12mpg. So if thibs just didn't wanna shake things up when we didn't have time to get used to the new routines, he'll have that opportunitynow.

It's been a rough season, I'm sure Elf has a banged-up something-or-other that he could nurse "until we need him"...

[Chanel Bomber]

Right now on Fanduel and Draftkings, I’m seeing the Knicks as a slight favorite (-115 to -125 range)

I guess early money came in on the Knicks

I think it’s a 50/50 series, but I’ll say for the Knicks:

1) we have the best player in the series
2) we have home court advantage
3) we have the better coach
4) our lack of playoff experience/pedigree is negated by the fact that we’re playing a team in the same boat

I'm not sure we have the coaching advantage. I think it's a wash. It will be interesting to see who's quicker to adjust.

The Hawks are an offensive juggernaut. They have 7 rotation players with a TS over 60%, and Trae Young isn't even one of them (58.9%).

Bullock, RJ, Burks and Quickley will need to hit their 3s. If not, the Knicks won't be able to keep up and make their defense count. Capela will be a major problem on the offensive glass, so Taj might be better suited to defend against him than Noel. We don't really have the personnel to attack Trae Young, unless Rose goes off. I think this team poses more match-up problems than Miami tbh.

If the Knicks win this series, it will be in 6 or 7 games. On the other hand, I could see Atlanta winning this in 5.

Damn. Knicks should just give up now, Hawks are so formidable.

My strategy would be to have Randle throw Trae into the stands WWE-style in game 1, just to break their spirit.

[BugginOut]

Read on Twitter

[BugginOut]

Maybe because we've been out of the playoffs so long people aren't confident in our team, but we're playing a team we swept during the regular season, and we'll have home court advantage.

Knicks in 5.

Let's not forget that in the most recent game Hawks were up 8 and seemingly on their way to a double digit blowout until Trae turned an ankle in the 3rd quarter. I expect the games to follow the trend of the most recent matchup except the Trae getting hurt part.

Nah f*ck that. Only reason it was close was because they injured Noel and Taj and we had to play freaking Norvel Pell heavy minutes, who not surprisingly is terrible in the P&R.

Unless Solomon Hill injures Randle we are winning in 5 or 6. I’m not scared of this no defense playing Hawks team.

[Capn'O]

I wonder what Thibs does with Elfrid. He’s been getting worse and worse.

You finished the regular season. You can't continue to embarrass a player. Drop him from the rotation unless you intend to play him normal minutes.
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Yeah, it's clear his confidence is shot. Not that he was ever great but his play has fallen off a cliff recently.

[cgf]

I'm not sure we have the coaching advantage. I think it's a wash. It will be interesting to see who's quicker to adjust.

The Hawks are an offensive juggernaut. They have 7 rotation players with a TS over 60%, and Trae Young isn't even one of them (58.9%).

Bullock, RJ, Burks and Quickley will need to hit their 3s. If not, the Knicks won't be able to keep up and make their defense count. Capela will be a major problem on the offensive glass, so Taj might be better suited to defend against him than Noel. We don't really have the personnel to attack Trae Young, unless Rose goes off. I think this team poses more match-up problems than Miami tbh.

If the Knicks win this series, it will be in 6 or 7 games. On the other hand, I could see Atlanta winning this in 5.

Damn. Knicks should just give up now, Hawks are so formidable.

My strategy would be to have Randle throw Trae into the stands WWE-style in game 1, just to break their spirit.

Maybe the reason Thibs has been starting Elf all season was so it wouldn't be suspicious when he was on the court to start game 1...and now that he's lain the groundwork, he's going to have Elf tackle Trae the instant the refs tip the ball off?

Payton gets suspended for the rest of the playoffs, which only helps us, and Trae spends the rest of the series terrified.