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The Atlanta Hawks secured a thrilling 107-105 win over the New York Knicks in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round matchup at Madison Square Garden.
Sunday’s nip-and-tuck affair ended with a shot each from the two teams' star players, Trae Young and Julius Randle.
However, it was the Atlanta Hawks’ Young who drained the game-winning shot with only 0.9 seconds left. The former No. 5 pick of the 2018 draft from Oklahoma drove down the lane in the final seconds and shot a floater against two defenders.
Randle, on the other hand, didn't get his shot off in time as the buzzer sounded. It was a poor possession off a timeout by the New York Knicks.
The two teams traded buckets in the final five minutes of the game as the lead kept changing hands.
#1 Trae Young has ice in his veins
Playing in his first playoff game, Trae Young performed like a 10-year veteran as he led the Atlanta Hawks to victory.
Even before the game-winner, Young was already making game-deciding plays. In the fourth quarter, he repeatedly beat his man off the dribble to draw one foul after another. He canned all his free throws despite being in a pressure-packed situation.
When he wasn't scoring, Young would find the open man for a three-pointer. Whether it was Bogdan Bogdanovic or De'Andre Hunter, the Atlanta Hawks point guard was able to draw the defense to him to give his teammates the opening they needed to hit clutch threes at the end.
Young finished with 32 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds for the game.
#2 The Atlanta Hawks took care of the basketball
For a team that hadn’t been a part of a playoff game until Sunday, the Atlanta Hawks were surprisingly unfazed by both the magnitude of the fixture and the raucous Madison Square Garden crowd.
Young could’ve been forgiven if he had turned the ball over multiple times, considering that this was his first postseason appearance. However, he recorded just two turnovers in 35 minutes of action.
The rest of the Atlanta Hawks players committed just four turnovers in total. For a team that averaged 13.2 during the regular season, the Hawks handled the pressure from the New York Knicks’ defenders excellently.
#3 Alec Burks was the New York Knicks’ best player
The New York Knicks wouldn’t have been able to keep the game close if it wasn't for Alec Burks' play. The veteran shooting guard scored 18 points in the fourth quarter alone, hitting one clutch basket after another, from jumpers to three-pointers.
Burks made 9-of-13 shots from the field and 3-of-5 from three-point range to end with 27 points for the game. Twitter compared him to Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan after his shooting explosion against the Atlanta Hawks.
#4 Julius Randle shouldn’t have taken the last shot
Not only did Randle fail to convert a shot at the end, but he also received the ball with his back to the basket.
With a frigid 6-of-23 shooting from the New York Knicks' star player, coach Tom Thibodeau shouldn’t have called a play for him.
Randle is the Knicks' best player, but he was in no shape to make that shot, given how badly he was shooting the ball the whole night against the Atlanta Hawks.
To compound matters, one has to wonder why Thibodeau had Burks inbounding the ball. As the guy with the hot hand, Burks should’ve been one of the receivers of the inbounds pass as he had a chance to make a shot with 0.9 seconds left. Even if the play wasn’t called for him, the New York Knicks guard could have been a decoy to distract the defense.
#5 The Madison Square Garden crowd gave the New York Knicks energy
The Madison Square Garden crowd was electric. From celebrities like Spike Lee to the youngest kids wearing New York Knicks jerseys, the 15,000 fans in the stands were so into the game that they were screaming their lungs out in support of their home team.
As it was the first playoff game for the New York Knicks in years, the MSG folks made sure that their team felt the love from the start.
The Atlanta Hawks had an early lead, but the New York Knicks came back to go ahead in the third quarter.
After a lackadaisical first quarter where the Atlanta Hawks led 24-16, the New York Knicks needed a picker-upper, and the crowd gave it to them.
Guess the Lakers players!
