Atlanta vs NY: Episode One -- A New Hope

[Jamaaliver]

New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks



As is the nature of the four versus five matchup, these two teams have similar records. And when I say similar I actually mean identical records. The Hawks and Knicks have been almost identical not only with their 41-31 record but also with their advanced statistics. They both have an SRS of 2.1, an SOS of 2.3, and a net rating of 2.4. Just from these numbers alone, this matchup should be a tossup but how they got to these stats couldn’t be more different.

The Knicks are a relatively simple team to understand. Their goal is to be as bruising and tough as possible and hope that with their intense defensive mentality combined with Julius Randle‘s superb offensive play that they can grind out a win. The Knicks held true to this identity all season. With defensive-minded coach Tom Thibodeau, New York’s finest ended up with the best defensive field goal and three-point percentages in the league.

The Hawks are a tale of two seasons. Through 34 games the Hawks were just 14-20 and 11th in the conference. Then the Hawks did the unthinkable. They fired Lloyd Pierce. This was the rare instance of a team firing a coach midseason but before it was too late. By simply replacing Pierce with an average coach in Nate McMillan, the Hawks started to figure things out. The Hawks were 11th in offense and 23rd in defense before the break, and since have been ninth and 12th in those categories. While the Knicks specialize in defense, the Hawks are more well-rounded. They can win a grinded-out game, or they can outshoot you with the capabilities of Trae Young, Bogdan Bogdanovic, and Danilo Gallinari.

Despite having star point guard Young, the Hawks are not nearly as reliant on a single player as the Knicks are with Randle. If Young isn’t having a good night then Bogdanovic, Gallinari, Collins, Huerter, or Hunter can each carry the night’s scoring load while also having defensive anchor Clint Capela to clean up their mistakes.

Key Matchups

Spoiler:

Two of the better feel-good stories in the Eastern Conference this season revolved around the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks. Neither made the postseason last year or even qualified for the NBA’s restart, but both will have a good opportunity to advance beyond the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

This is the first time that both teams have made the playoffs with their current cores and both franchises are considered up-and-coming young teams. Stopping either of these offenses starts with corralling their respective stars. Both clubs will have a tough time doing that.

The point guard battle looks lopsided in Atlanta's favor. The Hawks follow the lead of Trae Young, a 2019-20 All-Star who missed this season's cut despite being the only player to average 25 points and nine assists. Will the Knicks look to answer Young's offense with point-guard production of their own, or do they lean into the best defensive option to make life harder on the Hawks' franchise face?

Power forward is New York's biggest advantage, thanks to Julius Randle's emergence as an All-Star and fringe MVP candidate. This season's minutes leader posted personal bests almost across the board, including 24.1 points, 6.0 assists and 41.1 percent three-point shooting.

The Hawks will give Randle different looks with Collins, Danilo Gallinari, Clint Capela and perhaps even rookie Onyeka Okongwu. There isn't an obvious Randle stopper in the mix, though, and if Atlanta has to throw Capela at him, it will be pulling its interior anchor out of the middle and potentially making itself vulnerable underneath.

X-Factors

Spoiler:

Because the Knicks and Hawks lean so heavily on their stars, virtually any other players on the roster could be classified as X-factors. Having said that, two in particular stand out as having quietly colossal importance in this series.

For New York, all eyes are on 2019 No. 3 pick, RJ Barrett. When the Knicks go searching for non-Randle offense, Barrett is the first place they look.

His numbers are up across the board from his freshman season with the biggest (and most critical) spikes coming in the shooting department. There, he flashed significant growth at all three levels, improving what was a rocky 40.2/32.0/61.4 slash line to a solid 44.1/40.1/74.6.

While the Hawks have no shortage of options here—nine different players averaged double figures—we'll put the spotlight on Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Outside of the coaching change from Lloyd Pierce to Nate McMillan, there arguably wasn't a bigger factor in Atlanta's turnaround (14-20 with Pierce, 27-11 under McMillan) than Bogdanovic's emergence. After early struggles with injuries and inefficiency, he closed on a fire-breathing tear and averaged 22.0 points on 50.6/49.5/88.9 shooting during April and May.

Bleacher Report

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[jayu70]

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[Jamaaliver]

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[Jamaaliver]

One benefit of playing a team in a major market this playoffs:

No more being relegated to a 12 noon tipoff or on NBA TV. We've got a prime time slot and a prime opportunity to make some noise with most of the NBA world watching.

[ducler]

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[jayu70]

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[jayu70]

Off the bench or starting?

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[jayu70]

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[jayu70]

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[jayu70]

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[GTR11]

Hello ATL fans. Wont mind if I cheer for you guys here.

[GTR11]

This is what Trea going to need to do in order to win games.

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[GTR11]

Good start.

First team to 100 win this game. Duh nix can't score like that lol.

[D21]

Good first half considering it's the first playoffs game for a lot of players and it's played in a 15000 opponent fans arena.
The only thing I didn't like was that a lot of missed long 2s or 3s were the one out of rhythm, like took because of NYK defense rhythm than ATL offense rhythm.
They have to take their time, make the extra pass to another player, which means moving a bit more to always be open for this extra pass.

[D21]

59-56 for ATL with 8min left to play in the third quarter, despite bad 3pts shooting :
Bogi 0-4
Dre 0-3
Gallo 0-5

They have to find better 3pts shots

[GTR11]

Let's go Trea it's your time to shine.

[HMFFL]

Let's go Trea it's your time to shine.

3 pt play

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[HMFFL]

That floater is nasty

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[HMFFL]

Trae is getting some good fouls called down the stretch

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