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The Knicks stepped up on defense in the second half and held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 113-102, in Game 1 of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
Here are the takeaways…
— Jalen Brunson started the game on fire with 15 of New York’s first 22 points, making all six shots he took, including three three-pointers. Mikal Bridges also got involved early, scoring the team’s other seven points. Although the Knicks defense wasn’t on the same level as the offense, and the Hawks kept pace by finding ways to score inside, blocking shots, and creating turnovers to get out in transition.
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OG Anunoby began to heat up toward the end of the first quarter, getting to the foul line and scoring inside. Brunson capped off his big first quarter with a high floater as time expired, giving him 19 points and the Knicks a 30-24 lead after one.
— Mitchell Robinson made his impact right away in the second quarter with a block on Nickeil Alexander-Walker, leading to a Jordan Clarkson dunk. Robinson got his second block a few possessions later and Anunoby buried a step-back three to make it a 38-27 game.
Atlanta continued to fight back as Jonathan Kuminga scored on the fastbreak and Alexander-Walker nailed a three-pointer to cut the New York lead down to three. Josh Hart countered with a layup, but C.J. McCollum came right back with a wide-open three to keep it close with five minutes left in the second quarter.
— Despite a quiet first half, Karl-Anthony Towns made his presence felt at the end of the second quarter. The All-Star big man got his third assist on an Anunoby dunk and then scored on a dunk of his own for his first basket of the game. He made up for his fourth turnover of the game by blocking Alexander-Walker at the rim, but the Knicks couldn’t capitalize on the other end.
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Towns made two free throws with 8.0 seconds left, but with the clock winding down, Jalen Johnson found Onyeka Okongwu for three at the buzzer and the Hawks trailed by just two, 57-54. Atlanta outscored New York 31-27 in the second quarter and shot 50 percent from three in the half (8-for-16). Brunson finished with 22 points on…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/jalen-brunson-karl-anthony-towns-010035200.html
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Publish date : 2026-04-19 01:00:00
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