ATLANTA — The Knicks said they were playing for their lives.
Then they came out and played like it.
And it wasn’t Jalen Brunson who led the way — this was a shining moment for his supporting cast.
Particularly Karl-Anthony Towns, who recorded a triple-double, and OG Anunoby, who had a double-double, as the Knicks cruised to a 114-98 Game 4 win Saturday night at State Farm Arena to even the series at 2-2 heading back to New York.
“I thought we did a great job coming out with more tenacity,” Towns said. “More desperation I think is the proper word.”
Brunson — after Dyson Daniels fell on his left ankle — subbed out and went back to the locker room with 10:29 left in the third quarter and the Knicks leading by nine.
By the time Brunson came back in — with 5:38 left in the third quarter — the Knicks were up by 18.
Josh Hart, Anunoby, Towns, Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado all scored during that stretch.
Towns — who finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists — recorded five of those assists during that third quarter.
It marked Towns’ first triple-double in the playoffs.
He becomes the fourth Knicks player to record a triple-double in the playoffs, joining Walt Frazier, Dick McGuire and Hart.
There was no big comeback or collapse this time around.
No late-game chaos.
It was the most straightforward game — for either side — of the series.
The Knicks nearly led wire to wire — when they took the lead with 6:40 left in the first quarter, they led the rest of the way.
“We understood that in a pivotal game like tonight, we needed to be our best,” Towns said. “I thought we not only met the challenge but we exceeded the expectation in the moment, and that’s what you expect a team that has experience like us to do.”
The signs were there early.
Towns faked a shot, instead throwing a no-look pass to a cutting Hart.
Hart kicked it out to Anunoby in the corner, who swung it once more to Brunson for a wide-open 3-pointer.
He drilled it to give the Knicks a 12-point lead, as the Hawks called timeout with 6:54 left in the second quarter.
The wide-open look for Brunson — in addition to the fluid ball movement that created it — has been a rarity this series for the Knicks.
But their movement on offense re-emerged when they needed it most.
It helped create a balanced scoring attack.
Anunoby was terrific and finished with a game-high 22 points and 10 rebounds.
He hit back-to-back 3s in the second quarter as the Knicks began pulling away.
Hart added 10 points, nine rebounds and three assists.
Mikal Bridges — after coach Mike Brown showed faith in him by leaving him in the starting lineup following his Game 3 benching — recorded eight points.
But Bridges, after subbing out with 7:34 left in the third quarter, was on the bench for the rest of the game.
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Brunson finished with 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting from the field along with six turnovers.
“At the end of the day,” Brown said, “that’s why it’s a team game.”
Hart, after another rough shooting start, came alive and scored nine of his 10 points in the second quarter as the Knicks pushed their lead to double digits.
He made a layup, subsequently stripped Nickeil Alexander-Walker as he brought the ball up the court and then dunked to give the Knicks a 16-point lead as the Hawks called timeout with 2:42 left in the first half.
After making another layup with 25.9 seconds left in the half, he pounded his chest and yelled toward the Knicks bench in celebration.
His teammates seemed to feed off it.
It was Hart who energized the Knicks early and set a tone.
“Obviously the sense of urgency was there,” Hart said. “Down 2-1, giving away two games that we should have won. We had that sense of urgency from the jump.”
Alvarado — who has surpassed Landry Shamet (who did not play until garbage time) — added a punch off the bench with six points.
Soon after checking in for the first time at the end of the first quarter, he got into a bit of a dustup with Mohamed Gueye and forced Gueye into a technical foul.
The Knicks held the Hawks to 41.5 percent shooting from the field and 24.4 percent from 3-point range.
CJ McCollum, guarded by a variety of Knicks, was still efficient — with 17 points — but did not kill the Knicks like he had the first three games. Jalen Johnson shot just 4-for-12 from the field.
“I think we refocused and understood what was gonna be needed tonight,” Brunson said. “Most importantly, just not being afraid to fail is a mindset we need to have. Go out there, leave it all on the table.”
This was a beatdown on both sides of the floor.
This was the Finals-or-bust Knicks that had previously gone missing.
This is the version that now must not be an anomaly.
