News & Blogs
Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks deliver dominant Game 5 win – ESPN
Knicks 126, Hawks 97: “This is a pretty comprehensive and soul destroying a** whipping.” – Posting & Toasting
OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns were ‘monsters’ on the glass for Knicks in Game 5 – SNY
Knicks bench provides energy on both ends of floor to nail down Game 5 win over Hawks – SNY
Playoff Game Thread: Knicks vs Hawks, Game 5, April 28, 2026 – Posting & Toasting
Jalen Brunson’s ‘Phenomenal’ 39-Point Game Praised by Knicks’ Mike Brown After Blowout Win vs. Hawks – BleacherReport
2026 NBA playoffs: Eastern Conference first-round takeaways – ESPN
The Putback with Ian Begley: Knicks-Hawks Game 5 Reaction with Jonathan Macri – Begley Putback
Knicks vs Hawks Game 5 Debrief: Will The Knicks Finish The Job? w/ Kevin O’Connor – Knicks Fan TV
The Run.down Knicks vs Hawks R1G5 Postgame Show – The Strickland
Betting Knicks vs.Hawks, Game 6 | KFS Weekly Wagers | Knicks Film School – Knicks Film School
Knicks Take 3-2 Lead | Clicking on all Cylinders | Circle City Whiskey – Knick of Time
YT News
47 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2026.04.30)”
I think you’re underestimating Jalen Williams’ hamstring injury. He’s going to be out for a while and not likely to be himself when he’s back. They’re not out of reach.
Who will Mike Brown start if Josh can’t go tonight—Deuce, Mitch, Clarkson, Diawara, Shamet? And who *should* he start?
I could see Brown starting Shamet so as not to fuck with the rest of the rotation, although idk if I agree with that concept.
Analytics say Deuce should start, but eye-test for this particular opponent says Mitch. Let’s get out to an early lead for once, and close this F-er out.
BTW, I’m guessing that Silver and the league are loving how many of these series are competitive 3-2 sets.
Didn’t realize that OG was hitting .542 from 3 in this series. Wow! (Josh Hart only hitting .158. Didn’t know that, either.)
Josh has been rushing shots. He hasn’t seemed comfortable, although a little better last game
My worry for tonight is basically shooting variance. The Hawks have shot pretty poorly the last couple of games, and missed a bunch of open shots. The Knicks have shot pretty well from deep.
Part of the counter should be to really stop the Brunson no-man’s land blitzing, which has led to an open 3 or rim attempt basically every single time.
If they put their pressure on Brunson, Towns and OG need to be ready to attack.
If the reverse, Brunson needs to be himself.
They can’t seem to cover both options so let’s be smart about it (and no random 4th quarter lineups)
I’d probably start Shamet. He was struggling but the last few garbage minute stints he’s nailed some threes and he’s started for us before. Keeps the bench crew the same, which has been doing really well.
Hopefully we can close out tonight and Philly can get one more win against Boston and take that to 7 games, giving us another day or two of rest, so Hart can recover.
If not Mitch, I think I’d rather he start Clarkson over Shamet. Kind of a “reward” for contributing so well off the bench for us in critical games lately.
Yeah, I can see that. And Clarkson has been playing great. Plus his shooting is as bad as Hart’s so it’ kind of like going with discount Hart.
I can’t see Josh sitting this out unless it’s that bad. Dude played with a busted rib (or ab tear) against the pacers couple years back.
If harts out I’m legit concerned that we’re gonna have a Johnson game, Hart has killed that dude all series.
Hart will play, guys. There’s no way he’s sitting this game out.
Knicks championship odds slipped back to +2200, the same number they started the playoffs, notwithstanding:
1. They’re now almost certainly going to win the first round;
2. Boston has looked … imperfect;
3. Detroit has looked poor;
4. Cleveland has been extremely lucky to face an awful and now hurt Brandon Ingram and an injured Immanuel Quickley and are still barely up 3-2; and
5. Jalen Williams has a bad hamstring.
For whatever reason, Vegas and the “smart money” have not been feeling the Knicks at all down the stretch or in the playoffs. Atlanta actually swung to the Vegas series favorite after merely going up 2-1, something even Orlando didn’t do.
Doesn’t really compute. So had to throw a little more the Knicks way.
what? you didn’t run it through Strat’s spreadsheet/algo yet…big faux pas
How awesome would it be if Knicks finish it tonight and Boston Philly go to a Game 7.
that’s the dream. We can win without Hart, Philly pushes to 7 and we get extra rest.
I really hope we close this series out tonight because I don’t want the season to come down to 3 point variance in game 7.
To show how unemotional I am when it comes to gambling I didn’t use the Knicks for a nickel at the start of the season. I also bet “under” on the Knicks (and cashed). Despite that, I’d obviously way rather lose my bet. I can always win another bet, but this is a rare chance to do something special and I’l be screaming at my TV all night to get the W.
It’s all because of the pre-playoffs narratives, particularly Boston’s. I said it before the playoffs — Tatum’s not Tatum, and there’s something very wrong with Derrick White. Neither of those things are reflected in the current prices.
Tonight is an interesting clash of two familiar patterns.
Pattern A: the last two years the Knicks closed out their first round opponent in a game 6 on the road, but… they’ve always done it after blowing game 5 at home. Which leads to…
Pattern B: the last two years the Knicks have laid an egg every time they’re coming off an impressive win and have a chance to close out their opponent: Game 5 v Philly, Game 6 @ Indiana, Game 5 v Detroit, Game 5 @ Boston.
There’s also a third pattern.
Pattern C: every time this team makes you think it’s turned the corner, they remind you who they are.
It would be very cool if we skipped Patterns B & C this time. But I’m afraid it’s in their DNA.
Fun note: KAT is now the overall playoff leader in BPM with a Jokic-like 12.7. No other qualifying player over 10. OG is 4th with a Kawhi-esque 8.4.
I strangely feel more confident in us winning tonight than in G7. Knicks in 6.
If we win and BOS loses I may just turn permanently optimistic.
Except that Games 4 and 5 against Atlanta have now broken Pattern B (at least in terms of repeating an impressive win).
Let’s close it out in 6. You never know what happens in a Game 7. We are doing this tonight
I assume Hart is playing. But if he doesn’t, this would be my bet. Brown has done this a lot (and, IIRC, so did Thibs before him): bump your third stringer into the starting lineup so your successful bench unit remains intact.
That didn’t really break a pattern, though. We’ve posted back-to-back impressive victories many times over the last two years.
It’s closing a series after an impressive victory that we’ve never done. We usually close them after a soul-crushing defeat (like the Maxey shot or that miserable game 5 at the Garden vs Detroit).
This team likes to break your spirit before uplifting it.
Counterpoint – recent history is more along the lines of uplifting our spirit before breaking it, like when we eliminated the defending champs last year and then suffered the worst collapse in NBA history in the ECF Game 1.
Worst collapse in a single game? Cause I would argue Golden State being up 3-1 against The Cavs in 2016 only to lose was a bigger collapse.
Also, if we’re talking single games…I would argue Boston’s collapses against us in games 1 and 2 were just as big if not bigger. I believe they were up more against us than we were against the Pacers in both games 1 and 2.
It does that, too.
This team has not been a good boyfriend. But this time he means it.
I think tonight’s game is gonna be down to Quinn’s plan again, it seems like we have set game plans for his “trap JB” or “deny KAT.”
Hope he runs Dyson at KAT again, fails and then runs Kuminga at 20+ mins guarding KAT and keeps Buddy’s ass stapled to the bench.
Also was firmly planted in the “Boston is nowhere near as scary as the media has decided they are” camp.
It’s true that we have had trouble closing folks in the first try and always needed the 2nd try but not this year.
This year, they’re experienced assasins!!!!
Speaking of boyfriends, one of mine just told me that they’re identifying as a non-binary dialectical fundamentalist.
Can one have a dialectic without binaries?
right?!!!
Where’s the board philosophy professor when you need him?
Yes, I mean the worst collapse in a single game. We came back from larger deficits against BOS but we did it in a lot more time. There’s tons of precedent for teams erasing 20 point leads over most of a quarter as we did.
There was zero precedent for what we let the Pacers do in G1. NBA teams that were up 14+ in the last 2:50 of regulation in the playoffs were 970-0 up to that moment. Nothing like it has ever happened, and nothing like it is likely to in my lifetime. It was unquestionably the worst single-game collapse in NBA history.
Adding to the above, teams leading by 9 or more in the final minute of a playoff game were 1,414-0, which is even worse.
Losing a series when up 3-1 is nothing compared to that. Even coming back from 3-0 isn’t comparable — it’s never been done, but there have only been 159 chances, and there’s a good shot Houston will do it this year.
Jesus, Pags. Don’t be such a turd in the pool.
It will never get worse than this. Incredible Bull Shit
That makes us so human, Pags.
It’s beautiful and sad. But human.
May I remind you sir that I predicted Knicks victories in both Game 5 and Game 6 tonight. I’m a ray of goddamn sunshine!
I thought you predicted Hawks in 5 because KAT couldn’t solve Jonathan Kuminga?
life is a very fluid situation…the past no longer exists, future is always moving away, why worry, at all…
KD is just too easy to root against, so was hoping to see LA win this series…
the opportunity though for them to be the first team to ever lose a series after going up 3 – 0 is just to delicious to not root for…
even better if luka comes back for a game seven and they lose the series…
Worried about Game 6 tonight on the defensive side of things. It looked like the Hawks found something hitting Daniels on the roll when the Knicks doubled off him onto CJ, and he did a great job hitting his teammates for open threes, that they missed. Odds say they’ll hit them in Atlanta. Knicks need to clean that up. Maybe just stay home. Or rethink how we scramble. It’s fine to not collapse on Daniels. Find the shooters. Make him a scorer.
I was for Hawks in 5 before I was against it
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