The Hawks will be without their elite backup big man to begin their series with the New York Knicks.
The New York Knicks will not be an easy task for the Atlanta Hawks.
Sure, the Hawks were one of the hottest teams in the NBA after the All-Star break. Make no mistake: The Knicks are still favored here. Their season-long performance should not be taken lightly. Most of Atlanta's post-All-Star victories came at the expense of teams that were not nearly as good as New York.
That's not to say that hope is lost. The Hawks can win this series, but they'll need quality performances from as many players as possible. So, the loss of backup big man Jock Landale for the start of the series stings.
Can the Hawks weather his absence?
Hawks lose primary backup big man
It won't be easy.
With Landale on the shelf, we need to look to the Hawks' third-string big. That would be the 23-year-old Mouhamed Gueye.
Gueye is a substantially different player from Landale. He's 6'11" - the same height as Landale - but just 210 pounds to Landale's 255. That weight difference is tremendous:
These are two entirely different players.
Gueye is closer to a combo big. He's got the switchability that teams covet. Gueye can survive defending the perimeter. He's a high motor player, and the Hawks surely like his potential:
But that's not relevant in a 2025-26 playoff series.
The defensive responsibilities of a 5 vary. Gueye can switch more effectively than Landale, but can he serve as Karl-Anthony Towns' primary defender on the interior? Will his relative lack of strength make it difficult for him to contain Towns?
How about Ariel Hukporti, the Knicks' presumptive backup? He won't look to score as frequently as Towns, but he will have a major strength advantage over Gueye. Can Gueye control the glass with Hukporti muscling him around?
Offensively, Gueye is shooting 30.8% from deep compared to Landale's 38.3%. Gueye's efficiency comes on low volume.
Is this a disaster waiting to happen?
Hawks can scheme around Landale's absence
Let's calm down.
This is Jock Landale. He's quite good. Landale has been among the better backup big men in the NBA this year.
Still, he's a backup big man. The Knicks are without Mitchell Robinson. Teams don't expect to go into the postseason with every player in their rotation available.
Who knows? Gueye's defensive activity could aggravate Towns for stretches. Moreover, if he can't, the Hawks can simply increase Onyeka Onkongwu's minutes. They'll be happy when Landale returns, but ultimately, this is the type of adjustment that any team expects to make in the postseason:
Whether they're favored to win or not.