The biggest halftime lead in NBA playoff history. The most points and most lopsided win in New York Knicks postseason history, too.
By any measure, what the Knicks did to the Atlanta Hawks was a historic blowout.
The final score: Knicks 140, Hawks 89 on Thursday night in Game 6 of the teams' Eastern Conference first-round series. New York won the series 4-2, after losing Games 2 and 3 by exactly one point apiece — and then winning the next three games
by 16, 29 and 51 points, respectively.
“Just a really, really good night offensively," Knicks coach Mike Brown said. "We did the things that we were supposed to do. And our players were really, really good with their focus and attention to detail.”
A look at some of the stats of the night:
The Knicks set an NBA playoff record by taking a 47-point halftime lead over the Hawks.
The Knicks led 83-36 at the break, after leading by as many as 51 at one point in the second quarter.
“It shows us what we're capable of defensively,” Knicks guard Jalen Brunson said.
Before Thursday, the biggest halftime playoff lead was 41 points. It had happened twice: Cleveland led in Boston 72-31 at the break on May 19, 2017, and Indiana led the Cavaliers 80-39 at the half of game on May 11, 2025.
The 47-point lead tied for the second-biggest — including regular-season games — in the NBA’s shot-clock era, which started in 1954. Dallas led the Los Angeles Clippers by 50 points at the break on Dec. 27, 2020, and Golden State led Sacramento by 47 at the half of their game on Nov. 2, 1991.
With the 83 points, New York tied for the third-highest first-half point total in NBA playoff history.
Oklahoma City scored 87 against Denver on May 7, 2025; Cleveland scored 86 against Golden State on June 9, 2017; and Dallas scored 83 against Sacramento on May 8, 2003.
Atlanta actually had a 9-0 run in the early moments to take a 9-5 lead. The Knicks answered that with a 43-6 run. Yes, 43-6.
The 140 points scored over the full game was a Knicks playoff record.
The 51-point margin tied for the sixth-largest in NBA playoff history.
It was the biggest playoff margin in a win for the Knicks — and the second-worst margin in Hawks playoff history, the worst in the Atlanta era.
The St. Louis Hawks lost by 58 to the Minneapolis Lakers in 1956. The biggest playoff loss, before Thursday, in the Hawks' Atlanta era was a 43-point defeat to Orlando in 2010.
When the calendar flipped to 2026, the Knicks — in their history — had never won a game by 49 or more points.
They now have three such wins, all in a span of about three months.
The Knicks beat Brooklyn by 54 points on Jan. 21, had the 51-point win Thursday and beat Philadelphia by 49 points on Feb. 11.
Before that, the Knicks’ record for margin of victory was 48 — done on three occasions, most recently 1994.
New York led by as many as 61 points, which is the biggest lead in any NBA playoff game during the play-by-play era — which goes back to 1996-97.
Cleveland led a playoff game by 60 over Miami last season.
New York's biggest playoff lead in the last 30 years was 41 points against Boston last season. The Hawks' biggest deficit over the last 30 postseasons was 46 against Orlando in 2010.
Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns had a triple-double on only four shots. He was 1 for 4 from the field and still finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The only player in NBA playoff history with a triple-double on fewer shots? Magic Johnson, who took three shots in a 13-point, 13-rebound, 13-assist game for the Los Angeles Lakers over Philadelphia in the title-clinching game in the 1982 NBA Finals.
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