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Karl-Anthony Towns’ triple-double carries Knicks past Hawks: Game 4 takeaways – The Athletic – The New York Times
Playoff Game Thread: Knicks at Hawks, Game 4, April 25, 2026 – Posting & Toasting
Knicks 114, Hawks 98: Scenes from more Towns, less clowns – Posting & Toasting
Knicks Notes: Josh Hart ‘locked in’ defensively, OG Anunoby strong on both ends in win over Hawks – SNY
Karl-Anthony Towns’ triple-double helps Knicks even series – ESPN
With backs against the wall, Knicks played with ‘more tenacity, more desperation’ vs. Hawks – SNY
KAT Triple Double! Knicks Dominate Hawks to Tie Series 2-2 – Knick of Time
The Run.down Knicks vs Hawks R1G4 Postgame Show – The Strickland
Back on Track – Game 4 Reactions | KFS Playoff Hangover | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
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100 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.04.27)”
Am thinking this is a potential inflection point.
Jalen Brunson plays hero because he doesn’t trust his teammates.
Jalen Brunson has played terribly and his teammates are carrying him.
Maybe this is the point in the hero’s journey where he realizes he can’t do it alone.
That play KAT initiated where every Knick touched the ball and it ended with a wide open Jalen three was the sexiest Knicks play in a very long time. I’d like to think Jalen noticed. And OG over the last two games is looking like the go-to option he’s always believed himself to be.
I would feel a lot better about this if I trusted Brown. I think he’s actually enabling Jalen’s worst tendencies in this series. We’ll see. If we come out for game 5 and Brunson looks committed to egalitarianism and Brown actually runs offense through KAT (intentionally — and early in the shot clock), it will be the best sign in a very long time.
“We know [the Hawks] are going to try to come back and punch us in the mouth when we’re at the crib,” Clarkson said. “So we got to be ready.”
Something that’s equal parts hilarious and sad is if we swapped Clarkson and Bridges’ minutes totals this series, we’d be relaxing and waiting for the result of Celtics/Sixers already.
There’s a certain irony in the swap of Mikal and Clarkson. The latter being willing to adapt a new style defensively to provide value, while the former has struggled to adapt to his role while providing so little value as to be swapped out ( Deuce taking some of his minutes as well). It cant be argued that Jordan is more athletic than Mikal and thus able to play better D. It’s all in the willingness. Mikal, who seems to be the most uptight of the Knicks rotation players would do well to borrow from Clarkson’s more carefree approach on offense.
Agree with Hubie’s take re JB. He needs to adapt his game in response to how the Hawks are defending him. Shouldn’t need Brown to do that.
Would also like to see Mitch get more run. Hawks playing small ball have taken him out of series because Brown doesn’t want to play Mitch and KAT together. Seems to be ceding a potential big advantage on the glass.
You would think that since the Hawks don’t have a big front line that playing both Towns and Robinson at the same time would be an advantage, but think Browne tried a little bit of it snd it didn’t work very well
I’ve been listening to other people talk about how Clarkson has reinvented his game. I probably haven’t noticed it myself because I still reflexively cringe when I see him, but people are confidently saying his D is good now. The offensive rebounding stats are ridiculous.
I prefer Clarkson to Bridges now, which is almost unthinkable.
I mean, Clarkson seems to be putting in a better effort. They should be playing him. He’s hustling and making plays.
I am a court certified hater of this mans game but more than anything he seems to be more frenetic and physical at the point of attack. He’s flailing his limbs in every which way (and sometimes it leads to some really silly fouls) but he is definitely taking advantage of the ref’s allowing more contact. Hell, the offensive rebounding alone is enough to keep him out there.
Atlanta is a really good young team. Knicks have a way of eliminating up and coming teams in the first round. First it was Cleveland, then they won 60+ games two years later. Then it was Detroit and they won 60+ the following year and now its ATL. Good chance they win 55+ next season. Even with this said, if it wasn’t for a few JB brainfarts on last minute executions + pot luck shots by CJ, – this would have been a gentlemans sweep.
Bridges is 5x better than JC. He’s just in a flunk. Also, its not like NAW is lighting things up so its almost a wash. He must play his way out of it…they really need him against Boston.
It’s not just lack of trust. It’s also ego. You can see how he reacts and responds when a guard on the opposing team is getting the best of him. He often goes into hero mode and tries to outdo the opposing guard. It’s like the old days between Bird and Dominique Wilkins or Jordan and Clyde Drexler where it got personal except he’s not as good and ego should not be part it. It’s not Brunson vs. player X or the Hawks. It’s the Knicks vs. the Hawks.
He was better this last game in part because the offense was running through Towns more.
It’s unthinkable now.
If Brown were to make adjustments based on the results of just a few games without considering matchups, random statistical noise, where the player is in the pecking order of the lineup, who is on the court for the other team etc.. he shoud be sent down to CYO Novice to coach. Bridges is a monstrously better player than Clarkson even though Clarkson has been playing better in recent weeks and Bridges had a couple off nights shooting and with TOs.
You CAN think about Deuce because Deuce is an impactful player on both sides (he’s actually a plus player) and certain lineups may work better with him.
He’s in a “flunk” all right.
I mean, of course Mikal Bridges is a better player than Jordan Clarkson, who to be honest is an iffy proposition as a vet minimum player. In this playoff series, he is playing demonstrably worse than this iffy proposition of a vet minimum player, which really makes you question exactly what the fucking point of having Mikal Bridges is in the first place.
JB’s ego and confidence is what makes him the killer he is.
Some cool facts to recognize:
OG is the qualified leader in BPM for the entire playoffs at 7.8, mainly due to SGA (13.1) not having enough minutes to qualify.
Towns would be 2nd with 12.0 if he qualified:
23/12/6 with 3.3 stocks per36 on a crisp 72% TS
Doing a better Jokic than Jokic
Or the hall of fame, bc that’s what great coaches do.
Every year people fawn over Erik Spoelstra for the random dudes who play out of their skulls for a series (Caleb Martin, Max Strus, Duncan Robinson).
I didn’t give Brown enough credit for playing Clarkson bc I was biased, but in hindsight he deserves it.
This isn’t really what’s happening. Bridges is just ceasing to be an impactful player entirely. Among Knicks who have played in all 4 games, he’s 8th in usage, 7th in steal rate, and 7th in TRB%. He’s just not doing shit out there, period.
Props for shooting 100% on his 4 free throws attempts though.
Check out the 25 second mark to see something so unfamiliar it feels AI generated.
Bridges has been one of the worst players in the league at -4.3 BPM. Of players with at least 100 minutes in this playoffs, only Kelly Oubre and the immortal JaKobe Walter have been worse.
When you’re that bad it isn’t exactly a shock that replacement level players outplay you.
Towns and Anunoby are both playing great; second and third in playoff TS%, OG on 3&D usage. Going down the list, Barnes and Barrett have been great for TO, 634 and 632, ninth and tenth, respectively, both on high usage (just over 27 and just over 26, respectively. They’re being let down by Brandon Ingram at .452, next to last among playoff qualifiers.
Brunson’s at 517 at a massive 33.3 USG — he’s chucking way too much. Julius at 495, another inefficient playoff run — at least so far. Still plenty of ball to be played.
Bridges’s awfulness would be easier to cope with if he didn’t look even worse to the eye test.
“Check out the 25 second mark to see something so unfamiliar it feels AI generated.”
He’s lost virtually all his athleticism, agility, and explosiveness, the vast majority of which he’d retained until about 18 months ago.
Still sad, but things have to be called as things are.
Strat’s basically making a “keep running Devin Williams out there in big spots cuz he was lights out in Milwaukee” argument with Mikal.
My friend theorizes Bridges is hurt but, won’t say anything about it because of the ironman streak.
Would not surprise me.
Seeing the KAT/OG two man game…can’t bridges also do that? Make back door cuts, etc.
Those seem like the types of assists Brunson isn’t really capable of generating. But if KAT can be a hub to run the offense through, Bridges should also be able to do what OG’s been doing and get some easy buckets.
KAT, OG, and Mitch are over .700 TS%. Next highest is Deuce at .533. Average is .555.
We have 2 guys carrying the entire offense to 4th best in the playoffs.
Offense is way down in the playoffs: -4.8 ORTG. BOS is +7 ORTG vs #3 SAS. OKC is +10 vs SAS.
If OG’s doing it I don’t care if Mikal isn’t. It’s that Mikal isn’t doing anything.
If Mikal just brought the ball up for Jalen, or initiated some pnr with KAT when Jalen doesn’t have a good matchup, I wouldn’t care if he wasn’t scoring.
He’s failing at the little things he’s suppose to do, and no one else on the team can do them. (Except maybe New Clarkson?)
Heard this in a podcast and thought it was interesting: if the Knicks had traded 5 first round picks for OG and Quickly/RJ for Mikal, we’d feel less frustrated overall.
Sure but, honestly, I’d rather have RJ right now, lol.
Superficially, maybe — but they had different markets. OG was two months from unquestioned leaving as a UFA and was going to be traded for sure; Mikal was still a BKN centerpiece and much tougher to pry away. Leon botched both markets.
Obviously, OG has become way better than Mikal. (As have both RJ and IQ, but that’s a different issue. This team with OG and one of RJ/IQ is a serious championship contender. That should be the real source of frustration, though Mikal standing alone is quite frustrating.)
Speak of the devil, another tidbit from today’s Katz/Edwards piece:
Again, Mikal seems to be looking to get some cardio in and nothing more.
Mikal never really got it going last year. This year he was actually a productive player for about 1/3 of the season, then at some point decided “fuck this it’s not worth it to play hard” then just started playing like he did the previous season.
Now he just looks like he wants to go home and do whatever it is he does in his free time. He’s playing like these are zero-stakes preseason games.
Has he physically declined? I mean, sure, probably. Is he playing hard, like he cares about winning? No. You can actually SEE the lack of effort, it is obvious and palpable. The team is leaps and bounds better when Deuce plays, and is slightly better when the last remaining fumes of Jordan Clarkson plays. Mikal is a malignerer.
Whether he *should* or not, I think there is a close to zero chance that Mike Brown makes a change to the starting lineup during this series. I can see him making one for Game 1 of the *next* series (if we make it to one), citing “matchups.”
He won’t change the lineup for political reasons, but Mikal either picks it up significantly or that 19 minutes Sunday night will quickly wither away to Elfrid Payton right before the playoff benching levels.
I would not be happy trading IQ for Mikal, let alone IQ & Barrett
Yeah, I get that same vibe from him. Like he doesn’t give a shit. I just wonder what his deal is. Like did he think because Leon traded 5 picks for him he was going to be the number one option or right behind Brunson and then we got KAT and ever since he’s been quietly annoyed?
I don’t need dudes to scream and shout. OG is a quiet assassin. But underneath OG’s stoic surface, you can see he fucking cares.
Honestly, if he doesn’t turn it around we gotta trade him this off season, even if we don’t get back fair value. I’d rather give more burn to Diawara and whatever picks we use this summer. Start McBride next year.
Two good plays against Boston last year is not enough to justify his minutes.
This doesn’t make much sense. If he was capable of playing like he did in Brooklyn couldn’t he just, y’know, play like he did in Brooklyn?
Then we’d be clamoring for him to get more touches instead of being benched. We wouldn’t even be in this situation because he’d have been established as a solid #2 or even 1B by now.
“This doesn’t make much sense. If he was capable of playing like he did in Brooklyn couldn’t he just, y’know, play like he did in Brooklyn?”
Maybe he is unable to anymore, and/or he just doesn’t want to anymore now that he’s got his $$$. It comes out the same either way.
Not really, though. In Brooklyn he was the number one option on a tanking team. he could have the ball in his hands at all time and create however he wanted to. Here, he’s behind 2 all-stars who are elite offensive weapons. In theory he should be option 3 but then you have Hart, who snags almost all the rebounds that KAT doesn’t in the starting 5 and is the fast break guy and OG, who can’t create that much but can score efficiently and also fancies himself a bigger role.
So that kind of leaves Mikal out and it seems like he’s not interested in being Phoenix 3 and D Mikal, so he leaves out the D part.
He was unhappy the moment he got here and blamed it on Thibs and his system/playing guys too many minutes. But, alas, Thibs is now gone and, after a brief early season burst, he’s the same guy he was last season.
Cardio man.
Small nitpick – he made a ton of shots in the second half of game 2 to keep us within striking distance. If he missed any of those we probably lose.
But agree with everyone that he looks like he doesn’t give a shit right now.
If Mikhail wants to do more, then show you can do more and not just fade away jump shots. OG wanted to do more and has been actively trying to do more and work on himself.
He outplayed Jalen Brown. Bridges was the biggest reason Knicks went to their first conference finals in 25 years and barring a pot luck shot by Haliburton, – to the NBA Finals.
But, OK… let’s say you’re right about only two plays…
what if he does it AGAIN against Boston next week???
The playoff sample is small, and guys do play dinged-up at this time of year. That said, Mikal is kind of a unique case, cause his value is that he actually plays. But at the same time, he gotta actually play.
Obviously then I will love him and will act like I always did. Duh.
Not even close. For the series: 12.9 points per 36, .429 from the field, .333 from downtown. Didn’t get to the line a single time.
It was a fun run and so people are inclined to be boisterous and charitable, which is fine — but he wasn’t really all that good in that series. It really wasn’t something to which you give extra latitude in the hopes that you’ll see it again.
I mean that’s great and all if you make a couple of nice plays at the end of the game. Problem is, if you were making great plays to that previously, maybe your team doesn’t need a last second great play to win.
I’m done with squinting my eyes at Mikal Bridges and trying to see an impact player. That is not a guy who is leaving it all on the floor.
I always find it hard to attribute stuff like this correctly. Is Mikal really supposed to set screens independently? Is it not up to Jalen to call for a screener? Or Brown to call for it? Is Deuce setting more screens than Mikal just bc he wants to?
Jaylen Brown had a torn meniscus in that series. Maybe Mikal was great defending him, but he had a big advantage against a hobbled opponent.
Pretty sure it’s a lot like an option route tree for a receiver in football where the possible screener reads the situation, including things like who’s guarding him, the position of the players and ball on the floor, and how much time is left on the 24, and has the option to set a screen. That’s why you see ballhandlers from time to time wave the screener away. And setting a screen is a way for a guy who wants the ball to set himself up to get the ball as a roll or pop man against a more scrambled defense.
Things are more formal coming out of timeouts and with off-ball screens.
hahaha…love it…isn’t it much easier to just love him unconditionaly, – until you don’t anymore and then him having to play well for months before you trust/love him again? – going long and short non-stop is too stressfull and drama filled for me.
I never said he was great in the series. I said he outplated Jalen Brown. Its all relative in knockout stages. Now post Jalen Browns stats….
“This goes beyond shooting or scoring. Bridges has removed himself from the Knicks’ primary actions. With McCollum, the weakest defender in the Hawks’ starting lineup, guarding him much of the time, he’s run only 12 pick-and-rolls. All series. He’s set only 13 ball screens. All series.
Juxtapose that style with McBride’s, and you can better understand why the offense has run better with Bridges, the bigger-name player and still a starter, on the bench. McBride laid eight ball screens for Brunson in the second half of Game 3, when the Knicks came back from down 18 points to inspire a close but ultimately unsuccessful finish. He set seven more in Game 4”.
Setting a screen involves “contact”
Mikal is like that elite tackle you sign for the max to protect the blindside, and then he decides to become quicker by becoming anorexic, loses 80 pounds, and gets blown up on every play by blitzing cornerbacks…..
I still can’t believe how nonexistent he has been all season.
Bridges in a field is the absence of field
Fast forward to the NBA Finals meetup in NYC: Swifty’s in a Mikal jersey, I’m rocking a KAT 32, and Strat’s in his fresh new Clarkson.
Imma be there, too, in my Mitchell Robinson #23, my Josh Hart #3, or my Alvie #5.
Wow, this is some DEFCON 1-level Mikal bashing.
I think the proposition that he might be hiding an injury is plausible. He also may be in some kind of mental distress. Definitely doesn’t look mentally healthy out there.
I happen to like him a lot, and yet I never thought he was worth anything close to we gave up for him. He got off to a great start this season, but definitely tailed off and is now a very legitimate concern, both in the immediate sense and down the road, given his extension.
I’m not gonna give up on him just yet, though. Bottom line is, we need him because at his best he can do things with his length that Deuce can’t do. That’s why I think he needs to continue to get some minutes, but Brown should have a quick hook with him, especially for the rest of this series.
It would go a long way if he just weren’t shooting 25% from 3. But everything else is also terrible.
I don’t think this is a valid excuse because he has a conflict of interest in this area. If he’s not healthy enough to help the team he should be sitting out because he’s 1) making us worse and 2) delaying or hindering his recovery.
If he’s playing, is it to keep his silly little iron man streak going?
Does an iron man streak even really count if you have to play softer than baby shit to keep it going?
Playoffs doesn’t count for iron man streak, so I doubt that’s it.
FWIW, while Mikal has been bad for sure, it’s not like his replacements are killing it. Jordan Clarkson has a .506 TS% and a -2.5 BPM thus far this series. Deuce is at .533 amd -3.8. Brunson is at .517 and -0.3.
Shamet was so bad he was banished from the rotation. Alvo had a great stretch in game 4 but overall he is at a .481 TS%.
The bottom line is that our guards overall have been very bad. It’s not just a Mikal problem.
The Knicks starters with Mikal in the starting lineup in this series – negative 4.7 rating
With Deuce in place of Mikal – Plus 80 rating
Has anyone checked the chicken wing quality levels? That’s all Mikael eats right? Maybe GIGO (garbage in)
Zman come on, Bridges should be far better than Clarkson and he’s been much worse. He should be well better than Alverado and he’s not. Deuce was great in games 3 and 4. And at least those guys have had moments of contributing, he has not. We also didn’t give up 5 picks for those guys.
You made a terrible comparison.
Cade has 6 TOs in 17 min so far. It’s not even halftime yet.
Detroit is in dangerous territory here. Losing by 2 despite the Magic shooting 6-22 from deep.
the magic are in it to win it…
I don’t want orlando
Not really a comparison, just pointing out that all the guards need to play better. Was that really that complicated for you to understand?
Duren just got put on a poster you’ll be seeing all over..
I really find hilarious how Duren has been humiliated in so many ways this series. That poster was one for the ages.
The fact that Atlanta is known for excellent back court defense probably has something to do with this.
Banchero îs 25-for-66 this series.
All the unwatchable games are on peacock, which I don’t know how to watch. Boomerwin.
My first grader son’s team has better shooting than these two teams. It’s UGLY.
How Paolo is used is weird to me . Put him in the post.
Boy…suggs is bricklayer supreme
The 90’s Knicks fan in me is getting nostalgic watching this brickfest.
Suggs is 1-13 and a plus 15
Cade hasn’t made a field goal in the 4th
Bane bankin’ and thankin’
It’s insane that Orlando is winning this game. Only Bane can make a shot.
Imagine getting a 7-22 with 8 TOs performance from your superstar/MVP candidate when you are down 2-1.
He’s in a market that will protect him . Won’t get to much push back on national TV
That was the play orlando drew up in the timeout…get bane trapped along the sidelines…horrible…and then they flub it again….inexcusable
Ausar Thompson is Jared Jeffries
No matter how this turns out, Pistons are frauds.
Yeah, but Duren
Mitchell Robinson can do what he does
Pistons are the 2026 version of the 60 win Cavs
I’ve been saying this for months. They Thibs’ed their way through the regular season.
Franz Wagner hasn’t played in the 4th making this loss more ridiculous
Wow. It’s not like Orlando is playing great either on offense.
As bad as the Pistons have looked, I don’t think it’s out of the question that they win it in 7. Magic aren’t that good.
I tuned in with 5 minutes left and I saw one made field goal — and it was a brick that banked in.
Neither team can score, but what about the Pistons makes you think they can win this.? Cade and Harris are the only two skilled players they have .
Paolo made 4 shots and had 18 points
Knicks gonna have homecourt in the Conference Finals!
Pistonerblogger not having a good night tonight, ouch!
https://x.com/ShaxNBA/status/2048960434170970338
This is true. Malik Beasley a huge miss
flagg over nipples for ROY…close race…
Surely the Pistons and Cade Cunningham will get the same criticism as if the Knicks were in their place…surely.
In regards to Bridges, I really think it’s a confidence thing. It ebbs and flows throughout the season but right now he’s at an all time low. He’s still capable of making game-changing plays and scoring important buckets but he’s pressing for sure. I think his D on NAW has been solid for the most part. But he’s playing scared on offense
Raptors shot 32 % yesterday
Magic shot 32% today
At least they’re stoned.
at this point, hopefully MB can mitigate whatever negative mojo mikal has shadowing him right now…
hard to imagine him wanting to even shoot a three, his confidence seems so shot…
he still has time for a redemption arc this post season…
Nobody needs the NBA right away with NIL now https://x.com/DraftExpress/status/2048883713384108383
The sort of player available in the second round is going to change. Instead of young guys who need development and may or may not turn into NBA players after a year or two primarily playing G league, you may upper class men who have used up their collegiate eligibility.
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