Hawks 107, Knicks 105: Game 1 Postgame Reaction
The Knicks lost a hard-fought battle against the Hawks in Game 1, on a night when Julius Randle couldn’t find his shot and the bench nearly provided enough for a win.
One paragraph to describe the game
Playoff intensity. It’s back at Madison Square Garden, and the Knicks certainly felt it in front of a roughly 75% full home court. Both the Knicks and the Hawks, largely made up of players that have never played in a playoff game, looked frazzled to start this game. The Knicks looked more frazzled, in particular Julius Randle, who had a rough game. Still, the bench brought the Knicks back and they managed to take a number of small leads down the stretch. The Hawks kept making their own mini runs to get back in, and eventually, the whistle tightened up down the stretch. Trae Young got free and hit a floater to put the Hawks up by two, and then poor execution by the Knicks with 0.9 seconds to go sealed the loss.
Game ball
Alec Burks: 27 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 9-13 shooting
Alec Burks is a bad man in clutch situations. He did most of his damage in the second half, and between him and Derrick Rose, they buoyed the Knicks throughout the game when the starters had some serious issues putting the ball in the hoop. He probably should’ve been the guy taking the last shot, too, but hey.
Big stat
6-23. Julius Randle shot 6-23 in a game that the Knicks only lost by two. If he gets himself together (he did average almost 40 points per game against the Hawks in the regular season, remember), then this series could pretty easily turn around.
Unsung hero
Immanuel Quickley: 10 points, 3 assists, 4-7 shooting, 2-2 from three
Other significant performances
RJ Barrett: 14 points, 11 rebounds, one enormous dunk
Derrick Rose: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Julius Randle: 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists
