Knicks destroy Hawks in Game 6, win by 51 points to advance to Eastern Conference semifinals
The Knicks' Jalen Brunson celebrates after a basket during the first half against the Atlanta Hawks in Game 6 of an Eastern Conference first-round matchup on Thursday in Atlanta, Ga. Credit: Getty Images/Kevin C. Cox
ATLANTA — After a one-sided win in New York Tuesday put the Knicks in position to close out the Atlanta Hawks they took Wednesday off, flying south without a practice session and then canceled the morning shootaround Thursday, ignoring the chances to prepare for what they anticipated would be Atlanta’s best shot at them.
If they were overconfident or simply opting for rest, whatever it was, the Knicks should repeat it since when they finally did come out on the court they put together a dominant performance — a 47-point halftime lead, the largest first-half margin in NBA playoff history, and margins that grew to as many as 61 as they coasted to a 140-89 victory in Game 6.
The win finished off the series, four games to two, with each of the three consecutive victories to close this out growing increasingly one-sided. New York now advances to the Eastern Conference semifinals, where they will face the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series — a potential rematch of last season’s second round when the Knicks knocked out the defending champion Celtics — opening Monday either in Boston or against Philadelphia at Madison Square Garden.
Everything that you ever imagined the Knicks could be, the best-case scenario of the roster-building, the work by Tom Thibodeau over the last five seasons and the coaching of Mike Brown and his staff this season, culminated in this perfect version of Knicks basketball, overwhelming on both ends of the court.
“It speaks volumes about our team,” Karl-Anthony Towns said. “When we’re locked in, playing close to our best, we’re really, really good. So it’s about finding that team, that version of us consistently. Especially in a 7-game series – tapping into that version of us more often than not.”
“I don’t think it boosts confidence,” Josh Hart said. “It just reinforced the kind of team that we have, the players that we have, the coaches that we have.
“It was huge for us just because we feel like we gave two games away and we wanted to come out here with a great attention to detail, great focus from the jump. I feel like our starts to the game have been pretty good this series, that’s something that we wanted to set the tone with from the beginning.”
The tone was destruction from the opening minutes and never let up. The offense was led by OG Anunoby, who was nearly perfect, converting 11-of-14 shots for 29 points in 27 minutes. He got the Knicks started early, hitting his first four shots, including a pair of three-point field goals. Towns did not convert a field until the third quarter — to give the Knicks a 61-point lead — but served as a facilitator and picked up his second triple-double of the series with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Mikal Bridges broke out of his drought with 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting.
But really, the defense was perhaps even better. After limiting Atlanta to 98 points in each of the last two games, this time the Knicks clamped down in a way they rarely have this season. In the first quarter alone, the Hawks, who seemed to confound the Knicks with athleticism earlier in the series, could barely get a shot off — the Knicks picking up seven steals and blocking three shots.
“Yeah, I think most importantly, it shows us what we’re capable of defensively,” said Jalen Brunson (17 points). “I think that’s really important. We still have a long road to travel. So staying locked in and just knowing what we are capable of, that’s really important.”
Once the lead ballooned to historic proportions, and really after it was about 10 points this one was heading out of reach, the only thing the Knicks needed to do was survive and advance — avoiding injury or suspensions. Enter Mitchell Robinson.
Robinson survived a scare in the first quarter when he came down awkwardly after tapping in a lob, limping up the floor and then exiting the game to be examined by trainers. But he came into the game in the second quarter as the lead ballooned, so too did the Hawks’ obvious frustration.
With 4:39 left in the second quarter, Anunoby drove into the lane and converted a layup, drawing a foul. And as he drained the free throw, Robinson and Dyson Daniels got tangled up positioned along the lane, Daniels appearing to yank Robinson’s arm, and Robinson grabbed him while Onyeke Okongwu attempted to pry Robinson off of Daniels.
The scrum grew larger as coaches and players rushed to separate them, one of the officials, Kevin Scott, hitting the floor, and then Knicks coach Mike Brown also tumbling under the pile and losing his glasses. Finally, assistant coach Rick Brunson and Brown were able to get Robinson calmed while Hawks players led Daniels to the bench. Both players were assessed technical fouls and ejected. While no punches appeared to be thrown, the league will certainly review the tape with the melee rolling into the courtside seats.
“I haven’t seen the film, and it’s tough because when you’re up that big, stuff happens,” Brown said. “And it’s hard. If somebody feels like something that shouldn’t happen happens, it’s hard to keep your composure in that moment. But at the end of the day, that’s what we talked about, and our guys did a good job of that the rest of the game.”
That was the most fight that Atlanta showed after the opening minutes when they held a 9-5 lead, before the Knicks outscored them 35-6 to finish the first quarter. It was 40-15 after one quarter, 83-36 at the half and then a 61-point margin in the third quarter and with 2:45 left in the third the last of the starters headed to the bench as it was just time to run out the clock on the Hawks season.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
