Here we go! The playoffs have arrived and our beloved Knickerbockers are expected by many to make a deep postseason run. Will they? Won’t they? As usual, the Posting & Toasting crew has reconvened for a round(ball) table discussion to weigh in on the biggest questions surrounding the Knicks’ first-round matchup with the pesky Atlanta Hawks. Our panel of basketball geniuses tackled the following questions:
How many games will the Knicks-Hawks series last, and who advances?
Antonio: Everybody keeps going with the classic Knicks in six, and while I admit the Hawks might
give them fits, six games feel like too much to me. I’d go under 5.5, so let’s make it New York in five games, so we only have to go through one 1 p.m. ET tip-off, and we watch them wrap it up at MSG.
Miranda: Knicks in four. I just think they’re neat.
Zeno: It’s gotta be the Knicks. A matchup with the Raptors would’ve been considerably easier, but I feel good about Atlanta’s ability to be annoying enough to push this series beyond our comfort zones while everyone in the East goes out quietly. I’m leaning six games, and I’d say to do a Trae Young callback in Atlanta when we close it out, but not a single Knick played in that series back in 2021, and Young is a Wizard now, so…
Kento: Knicks in five. I do think the Hawks present some challenges for the Knicks, and that more than a couple of those five games will be close. But I can’t picture the Hawks winning more than one game this series.
Polaniecki: Knicks in 6. Atlanta is not going to be a breeze, and the possibility of a first round upset is a legitimate concern, but I don’t see it as a reality. The Knicks are still the better team.
Beyond Jalen Brunson, who is the most important Knick in this matchup?
Antonio: KAT and, to an extent, Mitch. The Hawks simply don’t have the manpower to stop these two giants inside, which might lead you to think that no matter what they do, the Knicks would be cool. Wrong. Towns and Robinson need to step up their game, hoard offensive boards, don’t overthink their play, and that’d help New York massively and make it easier for everybody to reach the second round quickly, rested and healthy.
Miranda: OG Anunoby. The Knicks are like 30-1 when OG scores 20-plus. And he’s gonna get an awful lotta run opposite Jalen Tyrese Johnson, the bees in the cat belly that make the Hawks purr. If OG is peak OG, the Knicks dominate the series and a lotta people look dumb for leaving him off the All-Defense teams again.
Zeno: Karl-Anthony Towns. Obviously, the Knicks need Josh Hart to be confident from 3, Mikal Bridges and OG Anunoby to be the 3-and-D threats they’re paid to be, and Mitchell Robinson to be the gamebreaker he is, but the Big Bodega is the X-factor for one key reason. The Hawks do not have a real center. While I like Onyeka Okongwu, he’s several inches smaller and thinner than Towns, which has allowed for this matchup to be one-sided all year. If Towns dominates, this series will be brief. If he doesn’t? We’re in trouble.
Kento: Karl-Anthony Towns. As others have said, there are plenty of x-factors for the Knicks, but nobody, not even Brunson, raises the ceiling of this team like Towns. There’s a very good chance that it will be him, and not anybody else, that ultimately decides how far this team goes. But in this series in particular, with Dyson Daniels and the rest of the Hawks likely doing everything they can to slow down Brunson, Towns must dominate the Hawks’ smaller front court that way he can, and should.
Polaniecki: Knicks fans know what to expect from the starting five, but this will be the first postseason in this era where they should see a deeper playoff rotation than in years past, and you can argue the lack of bench usage by Thibs cost them a Finals appearance.
How deep will Coach Brown go, and for how long? And how much of an impact will players like Deuce, Alvarado, and Clarkson make in the minutes they’re given?
What must New York do to win this series?
Antonio: Fudge Trae Young. Ah, sorry, the sentiment is rooted too deeply. This goes in hand with my answer to the question above, which means dominate inside, body Atlanta in the paint, and take advantage of those extra opportunities. As bad as the offense might be or as much as the Hawks’ defense puts the clamps on whoever they happen to lock in on, the more boards the more chances the more buckets.
Miranda: There’s no Trae and there is Mitch. ‘Nuff said.
Zeno: Not overlook the Hawks. It’s really that simple. Just stay locked in, disciplined, and make your shots. In an actual analysis sense, though, I’d say to contain Nickeil Alexander-Walker. The cousin of the likely back-to-back MVP can single-handedly win a game by himself, and we saw how hot he can get when a few shots go down early. Also, controlling the pace. Atlanta wants to run, but you can’t let them.
Kento: Get off to good starts, and take care of business. The Knicks are favorites, and rightfully so. But over the last few years, we’ve seen the Knicks get off to slow starts in both games, and playoff series. With how deadly, and elite they are in the fourth quarter, all New York needs to do is respect Atlanta, come out with adequate focus, and energy, and they should get out relatively unscathed.
Polaniecki: Pace themselves, each quarter one game at a time. They can easiliy get in trouble if they don’t focus on what’s in front of them right now in this opening round. If they start looking too far ahead, or come in with the notion that everything will be a breeze until the ECF, they will be in for a rude awakening.
What concerns you most about the Knicks entering Round 1?
Antonio: It wasn’t too long ago—I’m talking days—we kept hearing Towns and Brown talking about still having to adapt to new roles, doing some forced stuff instead of following a more natural and fitting style of play for the players available and their strengths, and so on. This has been the narrative—and the actual issue, can’t hide it—since tip-off back in October. And it still scares the hell out of me, as in, will there be a moment of panic if the Knicks fall down in the series early, say 0-1 or 0-2, and everything spins out of control? Will somebody go his way and screw everything up?
Miranda: I haven’t kept all the customs of my ancestors, but one that I do is I don’t say what I’m most afraid of ‘cuz . . . you know. The thing that worries me I’m most willing to cop to is free-throw shooting. I don’t know why that’s a thing; it shouldn’t be. Four of the five starters shoot 83-86% at the line, Josh Hart being the outlier at 72%. And yet it *feels* like at least once a week, Mike Breen was saying they were 13-of-20 at the charity stripe, or they were down three late in the third, having missed eight free throws. Jalen Brunson is the weirdest good free-throw shooter I’ve ever seen. He misses more than the numbers say. If you watch every game, you know what I mean. He’s a very good free-throw shooter. But he misses a ton, somehow. Free throws scare me. And eight-second violations, obviously.
Zeno: Defensive inconsistency. This is the second-best defense in basketball since MLK Day, but there are spells where it looks like they learned nothing. The three-point defense has been specifically erratic, and that’s what I’m most worried about. If the Hawks’ complement of shooters gets going and they can’t turn the faucet off, this series will be a lot closer than it should be.
Kento: I brought up their tendency to get off to slow starts, so that concerns me. But, if I was to point to one other thing, it would have to be their three-point defense. Even with the Knicks defense being amongst the league’s best in the second half, they still rank in the bottom half in three-point makes, and attempts given up, as well as opponent percentages from deep since the All-Star break, while the Hawks rank in the top ten in all three of those categories during that span. The Hawks may not have any elite shooters, but they have a lot of players who are good, and willing shooters from outside. If the Hawks get hot from deep, it could become a cause for concern.
Polaniecki: My biggest concern is that the Knicks could enter this series with expectations that it will be easier than it’s actually going to be. That can be dangerous in the playoffs, where every opponent is capable of making things uncomfortable and every game requires full focus.
What gives you the most confidence about New York right now?
Antonio: How many Hawks players would be starters in the Knicks’ lineup? How many of them would you swap for one of ours? One? Not a single one? (Bonus track: the lack of behemoths in Atlanta’s lineup should make it easier for Mitch to reach the second round healthy and strong as an ox).
Miranda: A concession of the Bridges and KAT trades was the Knicks getting talent but losing continuity. That’s why upsetting the Celtics was such a shock: Boston and Cleveland were far ahead in continuity, which seemed to play out in their winning all eight games against New York. But the diamond that started forming underneath the crushing tao of Tom Thibodeau got another super serum dose of playing together this year, especially Mitchell Robinson. In 2025, Mitch played more minutes with Bridges than any other teammate — 223. This year, that number would rank ninth. He played nearly as many minutes with Mo Diawara this season as he did Bridges the year before.
The Celtics have a whole new center set. The Cavs risked it all on James Harden. If the Knicks meet the Pistons, it’ll be a Detroit team with less shooting than they had a year ago. And they have another year of time together under their belt. I don’t know if that means anything, but it feels good.
Zeno: The players we’re going to war with. They have the high-end talent, the depth, the versatility, etc. In later rounds, it might be a lot different, but in this one, it’s the clear talent advantage.
Kento: Where do I begin? The Knicks’ lack of turnovers, and it’s ability to slow down a Hawks team that wants to get out and run? How about their elite rebounding numbers against a subpar rebounding team? The fact that the Knicks have Brunson, who will be the best player on the court, and is among the best playoff performers of this generation? Yes, yes, and yes. But above all else, it has to be the experience for me. The Hawks, with Alexander-Walker, and McCollum, and to a lesser degree, Okongwu all have playoff experience. But the Knicks have gone through it all with Brunson, Hart, and Anunoby having played a significant amount of postseason minutes together. This core has suffered heartbreak losses, experienced historic comebacks, and everything in between. When things get close, tough, and uncomfortable, they (outside of that one game we won’t talk about) find a way to come out on top.
Polaniecki: Their experience in the playoffs over the past three seasons gives me the most confidence. This core has been through meaningful postseason games, tough series, injuries, and high-pressure moments, so nothing should feel new or overwhelming to them now. They understand the physicality, the adjustments that happen from game to game, and the level of execution it takes to win in late April and May.
They’ve also grown from those experiences. Past playoff runs exposed weaknesses in depth, shot creation, and consistency, but this roster feels better equipped to handle those challenges. There’s a maturity and toughness to this group that only comes from going through battles together.
Give us one bold prediction for the series.
Antonio: Believe it or not, Robinson has never grabbed more than 18 rebounds or scored more than 13 points in a postseason game. Mitch will have his first 20-20 game at some point in the next week and change.
Miranda: The last time these teams met in the playoffs, no Knick averaged 20 points a game. Confident that won’t repeat.
Zeno: I’m torn between two answers. I feel like we’re either getting a spontaneous Mikal 30-piece or the April Assassin himself, Josh Hart, hits seven threes to single-handedly win a game. The second one sounds funnier, so let’s go with that.
Kento: You can’t have a deep playoff run without bench players stepping up. We know McBride, and Robinson will play their part. But I also expect Clarkson or Shamet to play a crucial part in winning what will be an ugly game for the Knicks.
Polaniecki: An unlikely hero will emerge off the bench.
