Series tied 2-2. Madison Square Garden awaits as the Hawks face a crucial Game Five with their season on the line.
The Atlanta Hawks are set for a huge Game Five Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against the New York Knicks.
With the series being tied 2-2, it's now a best-of-three to decide who will advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
In game four, the Knicks beat the Hawks 114-98, and appeared to have really found some of their offensive footing, and may have also determined that Karl Anthony-Towns should be the team's primary option.
After Jalen Brunson turned the ball over in the final seconds of game three, which led to a Hawks win, Brunson posted 19 points in State Farm Arena on Saturday.
OG Anunoby is no doubt the overall X-Factor for both sides in game five. He's posted two 20+ point games on the road and has been difficult to guard for Atlanta. So, Atlanta needs to play stiff defense on him, and the Knicks need to continue leaning on him to score the basketball.
Focusing on Atlanta, the remaining games of this series are going to start and end with Jalen Johnson. At this point, past stats aren't as relevant because there could only be two or three games left in either team's season, but Johnson has clearly not been as aggressive, and if the Knicks are going to guard up on CJ McCollum and honor him, Johnson should be able to get some good looks at the rim.
On-ball defensive pressure is going to be huge as well in game five, and after KAT's triple-double on Saturday, Atlanta, again, needs to focus on slowing him down.
This Hawks-Knicks series has been the most entertaining of all the first-round matchups, and Thursday night's contest is a massive swing game. There will be a game six at State Farm Arena, but the winner of game five at Madison Square Garden will put that respective team in the drivers seat to advance.