The Atlanta Hawks open their first-round playoff series against the New York Knicks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.
The last time the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks met in the postseason, both franchises were playing with house money. The script has flipped for their 2026 rematch.
Only the Hawks carry underdog status into Game 1 of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks, who earned the No. 3 seed at 53-29 to record their highest win total since 2012-13, enter the series under pressure to advance further than any of their recent postseason runs.
Atlanta clinched the No. 6 seed at 46-36, securing the final guaranteed playoff berth and producing the franchise's best regular-season mark since 2015-16.
Thibodeau was dismissed three days after the Pacers eliminated New York from last year's Eastern Conference finals, the franchise's first appearance in that round since 2000. New York reached the playoffs four times in Thibodeau's five seasons at the helm dating back to 2020-21. That equaled the franchise's postseason total from 2001-02 through 2019-20.
In a January radio appearance, Knicks owner James Dolan said the team should "want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals." The franchise last captured a title in 1973 and last played for one in 1999.
New York did add hardware to its trophy case with a December NBA Cup victory, though the team opted against raising a banner to commemorate the title. Whatever rhythm the Knicks carried out of that run dissolved during a 2-9 stretch from Dec. 31 through Jan. 19. New York finished 28-11 after the skid, including a 15-10 mark against teams that reached either the playoffs or the play-in tournament.
"At the end of the day, we'll be judged on what we do on this run," Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said.
The Hawks entered the year with far lower expectations after failing to replicate the deep 2021 run that saw Trae Young lead Atlanta past the Knicks in five games on the way to the Eastern Conference finals. That trip marked just the second time since 1970 that the franchise had reached the penultimate round.
Atlanta bowed out in the first round in both 2022 and 2023 before failing to escape the play-in tournament in 2024 and 2025. The Young chapter closed on Jan. 7, when Atlanta dealt the point guard to the Washington Wizards for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.
The Hawks were 18-21 and ninth in the East at the time of the trade. They proceeded to win 28 of their final 43 games, and their 20-6 record after the All-Star break trailed only two teams league-wide.
Young, slowed by back and quad injuries, appeared in just five games for Washington after the deal. McCollum, 34, averaged 18.7 points per game in Atlanta while Kispert contributed 9.2 points per game as a reserve, with the pair logging 80 combined appearances.
"We've added stuff, we've taken stuff out, we've kind of evaluated what works, what doesn't work and what's going to work for this group," McCollum said.