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 on Tuesday put the Knicks in position to close out the Hawks in Thursday night’s Game 6, they took Wednesday off, flying south without a practice session and canceling Thursday’s morning shootaround, 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. When they finally did take the court, they put together a dominant performance in coasting to a series-clinching 140-89 victory. They took a 47-point halftime lead, the largest first-half margin in NBA playoff history, and extended it to 61 points in the third quarter.
After dropping a pair of one-point decisions in Games 2 and 3, the Knicks recorded three consecutive victories by increasingly one-sided margins — 16, 29 and 51 points.
They will face the winner of Game 7 in the Boston-Philadelphia series — either in Boston or against Philadelphia at the Garden — on Monday to begin the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Everything that you ever imagined the Knicks could be — the best-case scenario of the roster-building, the work by Tom Thibodeau over the previous five seasons and the coaching of Mike Brown and his staff this season — culminated in this perfect version of Knicks basketball. They were 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 seven-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. OG Anunoby was nearly perfect, converting 11 of 14 shots and scoring 29 points in 27:14, including 26 in the first half. He got the Knicks started early, hitting his first four shots, including two three-pointers.
Towns did not convert a field goal until the third quarter — to give the Knicks their second 61-point lead at 101-40 with 8:21 remaining in the period — 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 and 10-for-12 shooting.
The defense perhaps was even better. After limiting Atlanta to 98 and 97 points in the previous two games, the Knicks clamped down in a way they rarely have this season. The Hawks, who seemed to confound the Knicks with their athleticism earlier in the series, could barely get a shot off in the first quarter as the Knicks picked up seven steals and blocked three shots. In the first half, the Knicks shot 28-for-43, held the Hawks to 12-for-39 shooting and forced 14 turnovers.
“Yeah, I think most importantly, it shows us what we’re capable of defensively,” said Jalen Brunson (17 points, eight assists). “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, the only thing the Knicks needed to do was survive and advance, avoiding injuries or suspensions.
Enter Mitchell Robinson.
Robinson survived a scare in the first quarter as he came down awkwardly after tapping in a lob, limping up the floor and exiting the game to be examined by trainers. But he re-entered the game in the second quarter as the lead and the Hawks’ obvious frustration ballooned.
With 4:39 left in the quarter, Anunoby drove into the lane and converted a layup, drawing a foul. As he drained the free throw, Robinson and Dyson Daniels got tangled up along the lane. Daniels appeared to yank Robinson’s arm and Robinson grabbed him while Onyeke Okongwu attempted to pry Robinson off Daniels.
The scrum grew larger as coaches and players rushed to separate them. One of the officials, Kevin Scott, hit the floor. Brown also tumbled under the pile, losing his glasses.
Finally, Brown and assistant coach Rick Brunson 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, with the melee rolling into the courtside seats, the league certainly will review the tape.
“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. The Hawks 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 117-64 after three quarters.
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.
