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The Atlanta Hawks came up with a huge win in Game 1 over the New York Knicks on Sunday evening on Trae Young’s game-winning floater, and they will look to ride that momentum to another win in Madison Square Garden on in Game 2 on Wednesday. After two off days, the teams are set to battle for the fifth time overall this season.
The Hawks were able to neutralize Julius Randle for the most part in Game 1, and that is something they will certainly look to do again on Wednesday. Both teams would probably tell you they could play better than they did on Sunday, so it will be interesting to see what adjustments are made by the respective coaching staffs.
The Knicks got a huge game out of Alec Burks to pick up the slack lieu of Randle’s underwhelming performance, as he led all Knick scorers with 27 points. Young got seemingly whatever he wanted in the paint for Atlanta in Game 1, so it would seem Tom Thibodeau may choose to change the coverage and perhaps try to make the star guard beat him from a different area of the court.
Atlanta largely executed a pretty solid defensive gameplan in Game 1, and will look to replicate that. One area of weakness was their ability to flank Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley on New York’s second unit, so we will see if Nate McMillan chooses to adjust his rotations and put a little more defense on the floor when those two take the floor.
This is obviously a huge game for both teams (as is any playoff game), as going up 2-0 and heading to Atlanta would be enormous for the Hawks, and an equally devastating result for New York.
Injuries
Atlanta will again just be without Brandon Goodwin (out for season) and Cam Reddish (Achilles).
New York lists Nerlens Noel (ankle) is questionable for Game 2, while Mitchell Robinson (foot), who missed Game 1, remains out.
The Line
New York opens as two-point favorites over Atlanta for Game 2, for those who may be interested. The Knicks were 1.5-point favorites in Game 1.
Game Info
Game Date/Time: Wednesday, May 26, 7:30 pm ET
Location: Madison Square Garden
TV: Bally Sports Southeast, TNT, NBA League Pass (out of market)
Radio: 92.9 The Game (Atlanta); Hawks Radio Network
Streaming: Bally Sports App