Knicks’ 1st-Round Playoff Series Gets ‘Juice’ After Decision

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Jalen Brunson #11 of the New York Knicks ldrives against Dyson Daniels #5 and Jalen Johnson #1 of the Atlanta Hawks

It was known heading into Sunday’s final slate of the NBA season that there was a chance the Knicks would wind up with the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs. It would have been easy enough for Atlanta to avoid a trip to Madison Square Garden, though, by simply closing out the season with a win against the Miami Heat. That would have sealed in Atlanta with the No. 5 overall seed and a series against the Cavaliers.

Instead, Hawks coach Quin Snyder made the odd decision to bench his starting lineup in the game vs. Miami,  giving the start to players like Asa Newell, Tony Bradley and Keaton Wallace, a trio that has three starts among them this year. That left the shorthanded Hawks to get knocked around by the Heat, 143-117, a result that helped push the Hawks down to No. 6 in the East playoff picture, setting up Atlanta to renew its rivalry with New York.

From the outside, too, it certainly looked as though Hawks coach Quin Snyder made a conscious decision on Sunday to lose the game to Miami–and the serve up the Knicks in the first round. As Knicks Centric writer Tommy Beer noted, “Atlanta deciding to sit everybody today to slip to 6-seed and a date with the Knicks gives this first-round series even more juice.”

Hawks Want a Matchup vs. Knicks?

That was the consensus around the Knicks, that the Hawks–who five years ago famously dismantled New York in five games behind a very aptly played villain, Trae Young–wanted to dump Game No. 82 in order to line up a matchup vs. the Knicks and dodge the No. 4 seeded Cavaliers.

As Ian Begley, Knicks beat reporter for SNY, said in his postgame video, “Let’s note that Atlanta, if they won on Sunday, could have avoided the Knicks. But they sat everybody. Maybe they wanted the Knicks.”

And Post beat writer Stefan Bondy added, “Hawks rested their players today, a sign they prefer the Knicks in the first round over the Cavs. If Hawks had beaten the Heat, they would’ve played the Cavs. Instead, they were blown out and a Knicks-Hawks series is very much in play.”

Rest Was Well-Earned

Of course, it can be hard to explain to Knicks observers that the league does not revolve around MSG. It’s entirely possible that the Hawks simply wanted to give its players a day off, and perhaps a well-earned one. The Hawks have been among the hottest teams in the NBA since they started the season 27-31 as they came out of the All-Star break, and then steamrolled to an 18-2 mark from there.

The Hawks are 19-5 since the game after the All-Star break, the second-hottest behind the Celtics. They went from 10th in the race for a spot in the play-in tournament in two months. Certainly, the Hawks could use a break.

Said Brad Rowland, the host for the “Locked on Hawks” podcast: “The big story of the day was the Hawks ‘ducking’ or the Hawks ‘preferring’” or whatever. And that’s not really what my read on the situation was. I think the Hawks didn’t really care who they played in the first round, which I think is kind of interesting and confidence-showing from the Hawks. But they also did not want anybody to get hurt.”

Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney