Hawks vs Knicks Matchup: Trae Returns to the Garden
Hawks Look to Bounce Back in New York
Young Ready to Rock the Garden
Trae Young will look to put forth another memorable performance at Madison Square Garden as the Hawks try to stop their tailspin when they face off against the New York Knicks. Let’s dive into the Hawks vs Knicks matchup and take a look at how the two NBA teams stack up.
The Hawks have lost five of their last eight games, but results aside it’s the talk of locker room unrest between All-Star guard Young and head coach Nate McMillan that is most concerning for the team at the moment. A return to a happy hunting ground for both might be what they need to spark some life back into their play at the moment.
Meanwhile, the Knicks are also searching for some consistency in their play as they come into this game having gone 4-4 in their last eight games and still sit under .500 on the season. The Knicks have opened as 1.5-point favorites for this one, with the total set at 232.0 points.
Hawks vs Knicks
Date, time (TV):
Location: Madison Square Garden
Trae Ready to Find Rhythm
John Collins and De’Andre Hunter remain out for Atlanta, which is problematic when looking at their depth at the wing position. Both men are arguably their best defenders when available so to have neither one available puts a lot of extra strain on their offense to perform at a certain level if they’re to find ways to win.
Young hasn’t quite hit the heights of previous seasons as his new backcourt partnership with Dejounte Murray continues to iron out the kinks. The All-Star point guard is shooting career-worst numbers across the board, but he is still averaging 27.6 points per game.
His efficiency from beyond the arc has been particularly poor, but facing off against a Knicks defense that ranks 29th in opponent 3-point frequency might be the recipe to help him break out of his shooting slump. If he can climb back towards his career-average from beyond the arc he’ll take his place among the NBA scoring leaders once again.
Brunson Taking Control in NY
New York is also going through some teething pains of their own as they look to reshape their offense around marquee free agent Jalen Brunson.
The former Dallas man has had little trouble settling in to his surroundings, but the Knicks transition to a faster paced offense has resulted in a steep drop off on the defensive end – something that isn’t normally associated with Tom Thibedou coached teams.
The Knicks are currently 23rd in Defensive Rating this season and have given up an average of 119.8 points per game across their last five starts.
Finding the balance between an efficient offense and admirable defense is proving tricky so far for the Knicks, but having a reliable first-option point guard in Brunson is an immediate improvement of what they’ve had at the helm in years past.
The Hawks ran out 112-99 winners in their matchup earlier this season. Last season, the Knicks did win the season series between these teams but Atlanta did come out on top in their last meeting at Maddison Square Garden.
The Knicks will be playing their fourth straight game at home and their rest advantage coming into this one against an undermanned Hawks team should be enough to get them over the line. Neither defense will be able to execute to get stops given their respective situations and the best angle here is to bank on points being scored.
Expect fireworks as always between these two teams and despite their recent history of staying Under the total the best NBA picks here is to take the Over 232.0 points in what should be a fast-paced showdown.
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