The Atlanta Hawks face elimination against the New York Knicks in Game 6 as players point to ball movement, pace and execution issues after back-to-back losses.
The Atlanta Hawks return home facing elimination after a 126-97 loss to the New York Knicks in Game 5, falling behind 3-2 in the series with Game 6 set for Thursday at State Farm Arena.
After taking a 2-1 lead earlier in the series, Atlanta has dropped back-to-back games while struggling to generate consistent offense. The last two outings have featured limited ball movement and fewer transition opportunities, shifting the team into more half-court possessions.
“I just think that it’s more about us, not really about what they’re doing,” Onyeka Okongwu said. “Game 2 (and) 3, the ball is moving. But, since then, we’ve just been real stagnant on offense.”
That change has been most noticeable in tempo. The Hawks, who relied on pace throughout the regular season, have had difficulty creating fast-break chances as the Knicks have forced them to play through set defenses.
“We want to play fast, but you can’t when we’re putting them on the free-throw line and not getting stops,” Dyson Daniels said. “We’ve got to be better defensively and keep them off the line.”
Daniels pointed to execution across the floor as part of the issue, particularly when it comes to spacing and running in transition.
“If four guys run and one doesn’t, that hurts you,” Daniels said. “All five guys have to run and space. We haven’t played to our strengths this series.”
Atlanta’s offensive approach has also shifted away from attacking the basket, with more possessions ending in perimeter attempts rather than drives or interior touches. Okongwu connected that trend to the team’s overall rhythm.
“Overall, we’ve just got to play through it,” Okongwu said. “We can’t let their physicality take us out of what we want to do.”
He added: “We’ve got to move the ball more. We’re not really playing like ourselves—we’re not running, not moving the ball, not spacing. The things that got us to this point, we’re not doing well enough.”
Quin Snyder emphasized the need to match the Knicks’ level of physical play while staying committed to Atlanta’s offensive structure.
“I think we’re playing a very physical team and it’s just a constant that we have to be that committed and focused and that competitive to move the needle on that,” Snyder said.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker described a similar gap between how the Hawks played during the regular season and what they’ve shown over the last two games.
“For us, what’s helped us when we were in the regular season — and it’s not the regular season — but the small things that have gotten us to where we are now, I think we’ve kind of shied away from,” Alexander-Walker said. “And it’s about finding it.”
Jalen Johnson pointed to offensive execution as a key factor, noting missed opportunities to apply pressure or create better looks.
“I feel like it was more self-inflicted, just more stuff we could have done better offensively,” Johnson said. “They just capitalized off our mistakes on offense.”
Despite the losses in Games 4 and 5, the Hawks remain one win from extending the series. A victory Thursday would send the matchup back to New York for a Game 7.
“They’ve been here — they’re a team that’s gone through the wringer and all that good stuff — and they’re applying pressure,” Alexander-Walker said. “They’re making game-plan reads, they’re making adjustments. So it’s just about adapting.”
For Atlanta, Game 6 presents a chance to reestablish its pace and ball movement at home after two games where those elements were limited.
“We’ve got to do that on Thursday, or our season will be over,” Okongwu said.