Category: NBA

After nearly a decade of disappointing their fans in the spring time, the Sixers are in a no-lose situation as they open the NBA’s second season on Sunday afternoon in Boston.

Expectations couldn’t be lower for the Sixers as the Celtics are the consensus pick to win the East. It’s probably fair to say that most Sixers fans are just hoping that Tyrese Maxey and VJ Edgecombe can perform well enough to give the franchise optimism that building around the two guards comes with a championship ceiling in the future. However, in what everyone knows is a “house money” series for Philadelphia, who might be able to benefit the most from decreased expectations?

The obvious answer are Philly’s two centers who will get the minutes inside while we continue to wait and see if Joel Embiid can go. Andre Drummond and Adem Bona are at completely different phases of their careers. At 32, Drummond is now out to prove each season that he can still play in the NBA as a bench big. Once an All-Star in 2018, Drummond has been living the life of a nomadic veteran that has repeatedly played on short-term contracts and been shopped at deadlines.

But somewhat quietly, Drummond has strung together three straight double-doubles for the Sixers and even looks like a competent three-point shooter. At this stage in his career, it’s likely that even Drummond can be honest with himself when he looks in the mirror and comes to terms with the fact that he’s probably a backup somewhere in the NBA for as long as he wants to keep playing. But perhaps it’s exactly that peace of mind that allows Drummond to continue to punch above his weight with no real pressure on him regarding his NBA future. Although we should note that Neemias Queta dominated Drummond the last time the Sixers and Celtics squared off in the regular season.

It’s certainly not a “no pressure” kind of situation for Adem Bona, who is constantly in a mode of earning more minutes as is usually the case with second-round picks. In two seasons in the NBA, Bona has looked like an NBA rotation player thanks in large part to his defense, but he’s still a ways away from being a polished offensive player and probably will never get there. But it’s the glimpses with Bona that make you say “OK! There’s something there.”

We got a few of those glimpses on Wednesday in the play-in game when Bona had three blocks against Orlando. Most of Philly’s veteran role players are set to become free agents this summer, but Bona still has one more season plus a team option for 2027-28 remaining on his rookie contract. While fans are likely hoping Maxey and Edgecombe can be the leaders of the Sixers’ next true title contending roster, Bona is certainly trying to prove he can have a spot on that roster one day in the future as well. A good series against the Celtics for the young center out of UCLA would certainly go a long way for his future with the organization. Bona, unlike Drummond, truly doesn’t know any better about the stage he’s playing on as these will be his first playoff minutes in his young career. Maybe that makes it easier for him to just go out and play in a series no one is giving the Sixers a chance in.

The backup center minutes behind Embiid have always been an issue in postseason series for Philadelphia in the last decade. Who knows if the low-pressure postseason environments for the Sixers actually allow players like Drummond and Bona to thrive? But let’s just say no one is holding their breath this time around when Embiid isn’t on the court.

Could the Sixers upset the Celtics in the first round of the playoffs? It feels highly unlikely, but it would be revenge over four decades in the making.

This spring will be the NBA-record 23rd time the two franchises have met in the postseason. It’s a rivalry that favors Boston historically, and, really, in 2026 as well. Still, the Sixers have had some high points sprinkled through the years, too.

For my fellow basketball nerds, I’m going to take you a little trip through the past with a look at all of these matchups, dating back to 1953…

1953 Eastern Division Semifinals: Celtics win series 2-0

This is when the Sixers were still the Syracuse Nationals. I’ll be honest. As a prideful Philadelphian, I don’t care much about that aspect of the franchise’s history. I think it’s outrageous that the team counts Syracuse’s 1955 championship as one of their own. Ultimately, I don’t write the NBA’s history books though, so I’ll be touching upon these.

In the best-of-three series, Boston’s Bob Cousy was fully in control, dropping 20 points in Game 1 and then a whopping 50 points in Game 2, which went to four overtimes, to advance. Cousy played 66 minutes in that one, going 30-of-32 from the free throw line. The Celtics would lose, however, to the Knicks in the Eastern Division Finals.

1954 Eastern Division Finals: Nationals win 2-0

This was very much an outlier year in the league’s history. They had a round-robin format to begin the playoffs for the only time ever. When Syracuse faced Boston in those games, the Nationals won them both with Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes averaging 24.5 points, 14.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists.

They then faced off again in the Eastern Division Finals with the Nationals prevailing in a two-games sweep. Schayes carried the Nationals with a 27-21-5 effort in a Game 1 home victory before closing things out in Boston in Game 2 two days later.

The Nationals would then advance to the NBA Finals before falling to the Minneapolis Lakers in seven games.

1955 Eastern Division Finals: Nationals win 3-1

In a best-of-five format, the Nationals had six scorers average double-figures in the series win: Schayes, Red Kerr, Earl Lloyd, Paul Seymour, George King and Red Rocha.

Cruising to the NBA Finals, the Nationals would win the franchise’s first championship, beating the Fort Wayne Pistons in seven games. Syracuse went from being up 2-0 in the Finals to down 3-2 before righting the ship at home in Game 6 and Game 7 wins.

1956 Eastern Division Semifinals: Nationals win 2-1

After dropping Game 1 in Boston, Syracuse rebounded and took the next two contests. It would be the final time the franchise beats Boston in the playoffs while still playing in Syracuse. The Nationals would go on to lose to the Philadelphia Warriors in six games in the next round.

1957 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 3-0

With first-year center Bill Russell now suiting up for Boston, the Celtics would go on a decade of dominance over this franchise. The rookie averaged 15.3 points and 28.0 rebounds per game in the sweep on the way to Boston’s first championship.

1959 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 4-3

In a seven-game slugfest, the teams alternated victories before Boston won Game 7 130-125, putting them on a path to another championship. Given Russell’s presence, Boston out-rebounded Syracuse 525-431 in the series.

1961 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 4-1

The final specific Nationals-Celtics playoff matchup, Boston took care of things once more. Russell averaged an outrageous 20.6 points, 31.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the series. The Celtics would go on to win their third-straight title.

1965 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 4-3

The first Sixers-Celtics postseason series, this would put into place a five-year run where the teams would meet in the playoffs annually. The Celtics would have a one-point win in a decisive Game 7, which featured the legendary, “Havlicek stole the ball!” radio broadcast call. Boston’s John Havlicek’s steal off a Sixers inbound pass in the final seconds of the game preserved the Celtics’ lead and sent them to the Finals, where they’d win their seventh-straight title.

1966 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 4-1

Far less climactic than their matchup the previous year, Boston just controlled things so much that a 46-point, 34-rebound performance from Wilt Chamberlain in Game 5 didn’t matter. The Celtics would win the NBA title for the eighth year in a row, but the tide would turn the next spring…

1967 Eastern Division Finals: Sixers win 4-1

Revenge! Chamberlain averaged a triple-double with 21.6 points, 32.0 rebounds and 10.0 assists per game. Fellow Hall of Famers Hall Greer (29.2 PPG) and Chet Walker (20.6 PPG) also averaged more than 20 points per night. A closeout 24-point home win would send the Sixers to the Finals. They’d beat the Warriors, now out in San Francisco, to capture the franchise’s first Philadelphia-based championship.

1968 Eastern Division Finals: Celtics win 4-3

Well, the revenge was short lived! The Sixers became the first team to blow a 3-1 series lead in the NBA postseason in this one, falling in Game 7 at the Spectrum in South Philly. Chamberlain did not attempt a shot from the field in the entire second half. It would be his final game as a Sixer before being traded to the Lakers that summer.

Boston, naturally, would go on to win the title after moving past the Sixers.

1969 Eastern Division Semifinals: Celtics win 4-1

With Chamberlain no longer a threat, Boston made quick work of the Sixers. In what was Russell’s final playoff run in his final season as a player (though he served as player-coach for the time being), the Celtics would eventually win yet another championship.

1977 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Sixers win 4-3

In the first year following the NBA-ABA merger, both teams looked much different than the last time they met in the postseason. Julius Erving, now a Sixer, and Doug Collins, a fourth-year All-Star guard, would both average 23.7 points per game in the series victory. In Game 7, World B. Free would score a game-high 27 points off the bench to give the Sixers a six-point win.

The Sixers would reach the NBA Finals, taking a 2-0 series lead over Portland before embarrassingly losing the next four games by a combined 62 points.

1980 Eastern Conference Finals: Sixers win 4-1

Despite a valiant effort from a rookie Larry Bird, the Sixers once more took down Boston in this era on their way to the NBA Finals. Erving, who finished second in MVP voting that regular season, stuffed the stat sheet this series. Erving averaged 25.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.6 steals and 1.4 blocks per game.

The NBA Finals would see the Sixers face Magic Johnson, yet another superstar rookie, and the Lakers, who beat the Sixers in six games.

1981 Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics win 4-3

An iconic matchup in NBA lore, the Sixers, just as they did in 1968, would blow a 3-1 series lead to Boston. Those losses in Games 5, 6 and 7 came by a combined five points. Brutality.

The Celtics would win the NBA Finals over Houston in six games after their comeback against the Sixers.

1982 Eastern Conference Finals: Sixers win 4-3

The legend of Andrew Toney was born here. Toney, in just his second NBA season, earned the “Boston Strangler” nickname with his clutch performances against the Celtics.

The Sixers bounced back from a 40-point Game 1 loss that could’ve been otherwise completely demoralizing. Toney would be the leading scorer in Sixers wins in Game 2 and 4 with 30 points and 39 points, respectively. In a winner-takes-all Game 7 at the Boston Garden with a Finals trip on the line, Toney totaled 34 points while shooting more than 60 percent from the field.

Facing Los Angeles in the NBA Finals for the second consecutive year, the Sixers would fall in six games again. Sweeping the Lakers in the championship round the following season, after Moses Malone arrived in Philly, would make up for it though.

This remains the most recent time that the Sixers have beaten the Celtics in a playoff series.

1985 Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics win 4-1

The Sixers’ 1983 championship core was on the downslide and starting to display signs of age. The star trio of Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish had plenty of firepower for Boston and two-way guard Dennis Johnson, who joined the Celtics the year prior, made life difficult on the Sixers’ backcourt.

Boston would face the Lakers in the NBA Finals, but fell in six games.

This Sixers-Celtics series was really the end of an era. The two teams wouldn’t face each other in the postseason for another 17 years.

2002 Eastern Conference First Round: Celtics win 3-2

Hey, the first Sixers-Celtics postseason series I was alive to witness!

The Sixers were Eastern Conference Champions the year prior, but their regular season win total dropped from 56 in 2001 to 43. They just weren’t the same quality of team.

The home team won every game in this best-of-five set.

After two losses in Boston, Allen Iverson caught fire in a five-point Game 3 win with 42 points. In Game 4, Iverson provided late-game heroics, scoring eight points in the game’s final 72 seconds to give the Sixers a two-point victory.

The stage was set for a decisive Game 5 in Boston!

The Celtics won 120-87. As wild as it sounds even 24 years later, that game was actually a lot closer than the score would indicate. Boston out-scored the Sixers 43-20 in the fourth quarter due to a barrage of threes after it being a somewhat tightly contested game before that.

Paul Pierce finished with 46 points on the night for Boston while making eight of his 10 three-point attempts.

2012 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Celtics win 4-3

The Sixers weren’t supposed to be there, but they were. The eighth seed in the East during that lockout-shortened season, they upset Chicago in the first round after a career-altering injury to the Bulls’ Derrick Rose in Game 1. They then faced off with a Celtics team that was running on fumes a bit with an older group of stars that had won a title in 2008 and had made the NBA Finals in 2010.

I give these scrappy Sixers credit. They played over their heads against a Celtics team filled with future Hall of Famers and the rings to boot. The two teams split the first two games of the series in Boston with each game being decided by just a single point. The series ebbed back and forth, while also featuring approximately 400 moving screens from Kevin Garnett, before the Sixers improbably forced a Game 7.

In that matchup in Boston during Memorial Day Weekend, the Sixers fought hard, but talent inevitably won out as the Celtics advanced. Rajon Rondo had a triple-double. Jrue Holiday shot 5-17 from the field. Spencer Hawes got eaten up every second he was on the court. Evan Turner was a game-worst -23. It is what it is.

The series, strangely enough, has since been immortalized in the film Uncut Gems.

2018 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Celtics win 4-1

There’s no getting around it. This series loss sucked badly.

Ben Simmons had his first of several postseason disappearing acts. Al Horford had Joel Embiid playing the most inefficient basketball of his young career. Sixers role players who were key cogs during the stretch run to the playoffs, like Robert Covington, Marco Belinelli and Ersan İlyasova, all went cold.

After losing the first two games of the series on the road, the Sixers returned home. Could they even things up in South Philly?

Game 3 had the most infamous moment of the series. Belinelli hit a shot at the end of regulation that looked like it might have been a three-pointer, which would’ve given the Sixers the win, but was only a two-pointer, merely tying the game. Confetti erroneously went off in the arena, celebrating a win that was not meant to be. The Sixers would then lose in overtime, giving the Celtics an insurmountable 3-0 series lead that they would wrap up in five games.

The pure feel-good vibes of that season and that playoff push still have not returned for the Sixers.

2020 Eastern Conference First Round: Celtics win 4-0

This series was in the bubble. Simmons was out due to injury. Horford was awful in his one year as a Sixer after briefly leaving Boston. It was awful to watch.

We can just flush this one away, right?

2023 Eastern Conference Semifinals: Celtics win 4-3

The Sixers let this one slip away. It still sinks. I’m angry just thinking about it.

With Embiid sidelined, James Harden went off in Game 1 with 45 points for the upset road win. The Celtics crushed the Sixers in Game 2 121-87, but you could leave with that because they already stole one!

Game 3 saw the Sixers fall at home, but they evened up the series in Game 4 thanks to 42 points from Harden and 34 points from Embiid.

Headed back to Boston for Game 5, I assumed the Sixers would lose because that’s just what they do. I was wrong though! Embiid had 33. 22-year-old Tyrese Maxey had a star-in-the-making performance with 30 points. The Sixers won! They were up 3-2! They could close this bad boy out in South Philly and advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in 22 years!

Well, that didn’t come to fruition.

Game 6 saw Harden shoot 25 percent from the field while going 0-of-6 from deep. Tobias Harris pathetically shot 1-of-7. The Sixers actually held a two-point lead entering the fourth quarter. They couldn’t finish. It was crushing to watch it all unfold in real time.

Game 7 was a formality as the Celtics destroyed the Sixers 112-88. Everyone no-showed that one.

Those final two losses sum this entire era of Sixers basketball.

Well, I hope that all wasn’t too depressing. I imagine most Sixers fans are just numb to it now!

I always find myself wandering through the history of the Phoenix Suns. There is always something tucked away waiting to be found, some random nugget that makes you pause for a second and think, “Huh, I didn’t know that.” At this point I’ve spent enough time digging, writing, and obsessing, including putting together the whole All Time Pyramid project, that I feel comfortable calling myself a Suns historian. It’s not born completely from lived experience, but from pure curiosity and the inability to leave things unexplored. So when a postseason matchup pops up, it is like an open invitation to go back and see what the past has to say.

And now here we are. The Suns are set to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in a best-of-seven first-round series that tips off tomorrow at 12:30pm. On the surface, you would think there is some kind of playoff history between these teams, something to pull from, and/or something to reference.

If we are talking Phoenix versus Oklahoma City, there isn’t.

Since the Thunder relocated from Seattle in 2008, these two franchises have never crossed paths in the postseason. Their timelines never quite lined up. Phoenix was rolling through the late 2000s and playing meaningful basketball while Oklahoma City was still finding its footing. Then the Thunder rose up with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, and the Suns slipped into that long, dark stretch where April basketball became something you watched other teams play.

The last time both organizations were in the postseason at the same time was 2024, and even then, nothing materialized. Phoenix exited early, and the Thunder were off on their own path, facing the Dallas Mavericks. So if you keep it clean and modern, Suns versus Thunder playoff history does not exist. No box scores, no series, no shared moments.

But history has a way of stretching if you let it.

Because the Thunder carry the city of Seattle with them, and if you choose to include that chapter, then suddenly there is a story to tell. The Suns and the SuperSonics met four times in the postseason, a total of 25 playoff games, a series of four meetings that actually meant something. Three of those series ended with the winner going on to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals, which tells you everything about the weight those matchups carried.

So while this version of the matchup is new, the feeling around it is not entirely unfamiliar. There is history here, it is simply wearing a different jersey.

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1976

The first time these two franchises crossed paths in the postseason takes you back to 1976, the season that put the Phoenix Suns on the Finals map for the first time and gave the franchise one of its defining early chapters.

Back then, the league looked different. Six teams made the postseason and the Seattle SuperSonics came in as the two seed at 43-39, coached by the legendary Bill Russell. The Suns slid in right behind them at 42-40 as the three seed.

The early round setup felt like a prototype of the modern Play-In, with a quick best of three for the lower seeds to survive and advance. That chaos did not touch Phoenix or Seattle. They were dropped straight into a best-of-seven against each other.

Seattle had firepower. Fred Brown dropped 28.5 a night, Tom Burleson added 20.8, enough offense to win most nights in that era. It did not matter. Phoenix had more answers, more contributors, more ways to tilt a game. The Suns took the series 4-2, riding the steady brilliance of Paul Westphal, who put up 24.3 points, 6.3 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. Gar Heard owned the glass with 9.3 rebounds, and six Suns averaged in double figures.

From there, the run kept rolling. The Suns took out the Golden State Warriors in a seven-game battle, punching their ticket to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history.

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1979

The next time these two franchises met in the postseason came three years later, in 1979. The NBA had expanded, and the playoff format shifted again. The top two seeds received a first-round bye, while the third seed played the sixth and the fourth played the fifth. The Phoenix Suns went 50-32 and landed as the three seed. It was a strange setup. Phoenix had the second-best record in the Western Conference, but the Seattle SuperSonics won the Pacific Division at 52-30. The Kansas City Kings, at 48-34, claimed the two seed by winning the Midwest Division. That left the Suns playing an extra series.

They handled their business. Phoenix beat the Portland Trail Blazers 2-1 in a best-of-three, then took down the Kings 4-1 to reach the Western Conference Finals. Waiting there, once again, was Seattle. The teams had met four times in the regular season, and the Suns went 1-3. Their lone win came in the 77th game of the year in an overtime victory.

What followed was a battle. The home team took each of the first four games. Phoenix broke that pattern in Game 5, winning 99-93 on the road and taking a 3-2 lead back home for Game 6. It’s a game not many mention when they talk about Arizona sports and the games the state has choked away, but this was one of them.

It was Mother’s Day 1979. The Suns had not lost at home in 10 weeks. Sixteen straight wins at Veterans Memorial Coliseum. They led by eight in the fourth quarter, still up six with a little over seven minutes to play. Then it slipped. Seattle took the lead on a Gus Williams jumper with 52 seconds left. Phoenix never got it back. Walter Davis missed an 18-footer that glanced off Jack Sikma, giving the Suns one final chance with one second remaining. They could not get it to Paul Westphal or Davis. The ball went to Gar Heard, and the shot did not fall.

Game 7 went back to Seattle. The Suns lost 114-110.

It is a game that rarely comes up, that Game 6 against the 1979 SuperSonics. Hold serve there, close it out at home, and the path to a first championship feels real. Seattle took that opportunity instead, moving on to beat the Washington Bullets 4 to 1 in the Finals.

May 17, 1979: Seattle’s Gus Williams with a clutch block on Paul Westphal during the final minute in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals.

Williams had 29 PTS and Jack Sikma had 33 PTS/11 REB in a 114-110 win over the Suns, as the Sonics advanced to a 2nd-straight NBA Finals. pic.twitter.com/28Ye4hDY5I

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) May 17, 2022

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1993

The next time these two franchises met came in 1993. The Phoenix Suns were the number one seed at 62-20, facing the third-seeded Seattle SuperSonics, who finished 55-27. Another Western Conference Finals. Another trip to the NBA Finals on the line.

Phoenix got it done this time. It was a back-and-forth series, both teams trading wins, each punch answered with another. Neither team won two consecutive games in the series. It built all the way to Game 7, with the Suns holding home court.

And then Charles Barkley took over.

44 points. 24 rebounds. A full takeover performance. Kevin Johnson added 22 points and nine assists, steady and in control. Danny Ainge chipped in 13 off the bench, knocking down 3-of-5 from deep.

This game carries a reputation. You look at the numbers and it jumps off the page. The Suns went 57-of-64 from the line. Shawn Kemp fouled out. Nate McMillan fouled out. Suns’ announcer Eddie Johnson, playing for Seattle at the time, fouled out agianst his former team. The Sonics were hit with 38 personal fouls. It was constant pressure, constant whistles, Phoenix living at the line and making it count.

The final was 123-110. The Suns moved on to their second NBA Finals appearance.

June 1, 1993: Charles Barkley's putback dunk & excessive rim hang/pullup in Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals.

Barkley: 43 PTS (16-22 FG), 15 REB, 10 AST

Suns 120, Sonics 114. pic.twitter.com/dMVVnvpkQJ

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) June 1, 2021

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1997

The last time these two organizations met in the postseason was 29 years ago. The Seattle SuperSonics came in at 52-25, facing a Phoenix Suns group that finished 40-42 and still found its way into the bracket. Phoenix entered as the seven seed, and they pushed. This was a best-of-five, and it went the distance. The Suns grabbed a 2-1 series lead and had Game 4 at home with a chance to close it out.

That Game 4 is the one people remember.

Phoenix trailed by as many as 11 late in the fourth, then ripped off a 19-7 run to force overtime. It came on one of the most iconic shots in franchise history. Rex Chapman, 22 feet, falling out of bounds, three in the air, tying the game with 1:07 left and sending it to overtime.

May 1, 1997: Rex Chapman's shot (assisted by Jason Kidd) sends Game 4 of the Suns' first round series with the Sonics into OT.

Chapman had 22 PTS, Kidd had 23 PTS/14 AST and Kevin Johnson had 23 PTS/11 AST but Phoenix lost in OT, 122-115. Seattle's Gary Payton had 28 PTS/14 AST. pic.twitter.com/h30OvlB4fh

— NBA Cobwebs (@NBACobwebs) May 1, 2024

Seattle answered. They took control in the extra period, outscoring Phoenix 15-8 and evening the series at 2-2.

Game 5 went back to Seattle. The Sonics pulled away late, a 35-19 fourth quarter that put it out of reach, closing it out 116-92. Wesley Person led the Suns in scoring that night, a quiet end to a series that felt like it was right there for the taking.

Seattle would lose in the next round to the Houston Rockets, however, making it the only time that a series played between the Suns and Sonics did not produce a team that would represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.

Interesting historical factoid about the postseason history between the Suns and the Thunder (Sonics):

Phoenix vs Seattle/OKC has met 4 times in the postseason (1976, 1979, 1993, 1997). In 3 of those series, the winner advanced to the NBA Finals. Only exception? 1997.

— John Voita, III (@DarthVoita) April 18, 2026

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So there you go, a condensed playoff history between the Phoenix Suns and the Seattle SuperSonics, now known as the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you are keeping tabs, across 25 playoff games, the Suns hold a 13-12 edge. The four series are split, 2-2. This upcoming series is the proverbial rubber match.

A couple more numbers to round it out. Oklahoma City/Seattle lead the all-time postseason scoring by 28 points. They have 2,679 points. Phoenix sits at 2,651.

Now we shift to the present. Two very different teams, one in a different city, both stepping into a new series. The gap this time stands out. Phoenix finished 45-37. Oklahoma City went 64-18. Two of those losses came against the Suns, a small reminder that matchups still matter.

Another chapter is about to be written. More history is about to be made.

Heroes and zeros from the Knicks’ 113-102 Game 1 win over the Hawks on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden:  

Hero

Jalen Brunson set the tone, scoring 19 first-quarter points en route to a somewhat comfortable Game 1 victory. Brunson finished with 28 points along with seven assists.

Hawks coach Quin Snyder had to be having flashbacks to the 2022 playoffs, when he was the Jazz coach and Brunson torched Utah as a member of the Mavericks. 

Zero

Nickeil Alexander-Walker had the best season of his seven-year NBA career, but he struggled in Game 1.

He managed 17 points, but needed 16 shots and wasn’t nearly as impactful a defender as he can be. 

Unsung hero

Karl-Anthony Towns was terrific in the regular season against the Hawks, and that continued in Game 1.

Towns was efficiency and productive, finishing with 25 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 33 solid minutes. 

Key stat

28.5 — Hawks 3-point percentage in the second half, after shooting 50 percent from deep in the first half.

Quote

“It’s nonnegotiable; we have to bring it every single night and be locked in.”

— Miles McBride on the Knicks bringing their second-half defensive effort to every game of the playoffs.

OG Anunoby’s bothersome left ankle seems just fine.

The star Knicks wing injured the ankle in the second-to-last game of the regular season and sat out the finale, but didn’t slow him down in the Knicks playoff opener, even though he tweaked it Saturday.

“It’s OK,” he said. “I just rolled it; it just happened.”

This was classic Anunoby, making an impact at both ends of the floor, as the Knicks topped the Hawks 113-102 at the Garden.

Anunoby scored 19 points, added eight rebounds and helped shut down Atlanta after halftime as the Knicks broke open a close game with a dominant second half. The Hawks managed just 47 points over the final two quarters as they were outscored by nine.

Anunoby enjoyed a solid second season as a Knick, averaging 16.7 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists, and shooting 38.6 percent from 3-point range. He appeared in 67 games. This time of year, however, is what’s most important. Keeping him healthy is essential for the Knicks if they want to return to the Eastern Conference final.

He’s one of their best all-around players, a critical cog on the defensive end. They went 45-22 during the regular season this year with him on the floor.

On Saturday, he was efficient, shooting 6-for-9 from the field and hitting two 3-pointers, while playing his usual lockdown defense. With Anunoby on the court, the Knicks outscored the Hawks by nine. The only Knick with a better rating was Miles McBride, who was a plus-12 in 21 minutes.

“I think I played good. I could always be better,” Anunoby said.

Asked where he would like to improve for Game 2, Anunoby responded: “Everything.”

It was a very good start for the Knicks, who, aside from some brief slippage late in the fourth quarter, had their way with the Hawks in the first game of the series. Anunoby was a big part of that, as a scoring complement to Jalen Brunson and a defensive linchpin.

“OG hit some big shots,” coach Mike Brown said after picking up his first playoff win as Knicks coach.

CLEVELAND — White dress shirt, white sport jacket, white bowtie, white three-quarter-length dress shorts, white socks, and a pair of his own signature basketball shoes. Whether or not they were the same pair James Harden wore 45 minutes earlier during the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 126-113 Game 1 win over the Toronto Raptors is unknown.

What we do know is that it takes a certain kind of superstar to have the confidence to make an outfit like this work on an overcast and rainy Cleveland spring day. And Harden is exactly that kind of star. The kind that the Cavs have needed in their last few postseason runs.

Being able to dictate the terms of a series doesn’t mean that you’ll win it. It does, however, force the other team to beat you at your own game.

The Cavs were able to do that in Game 1. They kept the Raptors from running in the open court and forced them to outscore them in the half-court. And you have to be a well oiled machine in the half-court if you’re going to beat a Harden-led team that way. The Raptors are not.

Harden made the difference here.

There are All-Star caliber players, and then there’s ones who’s presence causes the entire defense to shift. Every time Harden had the ball, the defense needed to adjust to account for what he could do. Whether it was sending players his way in the pick-and-roll or simply shading over to hopefully cut off his pathways to the hoop, the Raptors were aware of where he was on the court at all times.

“It’s the thing that makes everything click,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said about Harden. “He gets us clicking. It’s like a quarterback that’s super accurate. He’s just kind of picking them apart with short passes.”

That opened everything up for his teammates. Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley didn’t have the gaudiest scoring totals, but they were incredibly efficient. Six of the duo’s 11 combined field goals were assisted by Harden.

The Raptors don’t have an easy way of stopping the Harden pick-and-roll.

Jakob Poeltl is more of a drop big in the pick-and-roll. Like most centers, he doesn’t have the footspeed to be at the level of the screen. Because of this, Cleveland decided to start these actions much higher than the top of the arc, just a few paces inside half court. This forced the defense to guard more space, and that meant there was more room for the offense to attack.

When the defense shifted over to contain the Harden drive, he was able to dump it off to one of the bigs.

And if they gave Harden an alley, he was able to float it in for a basket over the top.

Toronto’s best counter was to send extra help into the paint and force the ball to swing outside. But that invites a whole different problem with the Cavs’ shooters.

The extra attention Harden demands also created driving lanes for Donovan Mitchell.

Mitchell’s ability to get downhill is what makes him a star. In the past, we’ve seen teams load up inside to make it difficult for him to finish in the paint. This strategy doesn’t completely stop Mitchell, but it can begin to wear him down, as we saw late in the Game 2 loss to the Indiana Pacers last season.

The Raptors tried to make Mitchell finish through bodies inside, but that task is much more difficult to do when your attention is split elsewhere. Mitchell finished with 32 points, which included going 7-13 on shots in the paint and having seven attempts at the free-throw line. It was the ninth straight time Mitchell has opened a series with 30 or more points in Game 1.

“It’s his job,” Harden said. “That’s what he gets paid the big bucks for.”

Mitchell has changed his offensive philosophy for the regular season. Instead of trying to get to the basket as much as he can, he’s opted instead for floaters in the lane to save his body for the postseason. But getting to the rim like this was always the plan for the playoffs.

“[I’m just trying] to continue to put pressure on teams,” Mitchell said. “That’s where I feel like I thrive, and making the defense have to react to that.”

The pairing between Mitchell and Harden feels comfortable in the playoffs. It was only one game — and not a particularly close one at that — but the duo did a good job of playing off of each other. That’s made possible because of the willingness each has to cede control to the other.

“We understand that,” Harden said when asked about Mitchell’s scoring. “So our job is to just go out there and fulfill the roles and do other things to impact the game. If he got it going, he’s going to give you 40, 50 (points). I think for us it’s just finding other ways.”

Max Strus changed the game with his scoring. He helped cap off a first-quarter run that saw the Cavs turn a five-point deficit into a four-point advantage by scoring five points in the final 25 seconds. He then poured in eight points at the start of the third quarter to help the Cavs turn a seven-point advantage into a 22-point one.

Strus is a streaky shooter. He had it going on Saturday afternoon as he poured in 24 points on 8-10 shooting, which included going 4-6 from three.

As good as the shooting was, Strus brings much more than that. If he makes shots, it’s a “bonus” according to Harden. The leadership that Strus provides and his ability to do the little things that impact winning are what make him invaluable. And it wasn’t always a guarantee that he’d be able to provide it, given the injuries he was dealing with throughout the season.

“One thing I learned is to never doubt that man,” Mitchell said. “He’s put the time and put the work in. … There was no doubt he was going to come back and make an impact.”

The transition defense was excellent.

The Cavs spent the lead-up to the series talking about how they need to match the Raptors’ speed. Toronto came into this game taking the third-most shots in transition in the league. You wouldn’t have known that if you just watched them here.

The Cavs were able to do this by hustling back in transition, stopping the ball in the open court, occasionally attacking the offensive glass, limiting turnovers, and generating clean offense. This all led to Toronto finishing with just three fast-break points. That’s nearly 16 points less than their season-long average.

The Raptors don’t have the firepower or the shot profile to easily hang with the Cavs.

Before the game, Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković talked about wanting to have his team continue to stick to their identity going up against a group that shoots as well as the Cavs. “We cannot be changing, and we don’t want to be changing at this stage.”

That’s fair, and could be the correct game plan, but the Raptors don’t have the offensive weapons to stay in a game the Cavs are taking and making threes like this. That’s true even when the Raptors hit 48.1% of their own threes. The Raptors just aren’t taking enough looks from the outside.

The most efficient places to score on the court are the rim, free-throw line, and from beyond the arc. The Cavs did those things incredibly well. Cleveland took 42% of their shots at the rim (89th percentile) and 36% of their shots from three (36th percentile). Meanwhile, the Raptors split their shots evenly between the rim, midrange, and beyond the arc. That includes taking 13% of their shots between 14 feet and the three-point line (91st percentile).

The Cavs were hitting their threes — and that’s worth acknowledging — but it’s difficult to keep up with your opponent in most circumstances when the shots you’re forced into taking are simply much harder.

The pathway forward for the Raptors is more difficult than simply making more shots. They have to either change where they’re taking them or keep the Cavs from getting to their spots.

Despite how lopsided this game felt, the series isn’t over yet.

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Harden said. “Our job is to stay in the moment and take one game at a time. … Things happen fast. Our job is to focus on what we can do better, watch film tomorrow, and then come out in Game 2 and be ready to go.”

Fun fact: Jesse Itzler, who wrote “Go New York Go” is both a Knicks fan and a minority co-owner of the Hawks. Mr. Itzler must have felt some conflicted feelings as he sat down to watch the Knickerbockers host Atlanta in Game One of the Eastern Conference First Round. And it must have been a special kind of sting to watch a raucous crowd chanting his most famous song as the home team closed out a 113-102 victory.

An electric Madison Square Garden looked sold-out from the cozy confines of this Binghamton abode. To our delight, Mikal Bridges drew first blood, leading the home team to a 7-4 lead.

From there, Atlanta crept into the lead thanks to buckets by veteran CJ McCollum (26 PTS). It wouldn’t last long. The Brunson Burner was lit from the jump, and Jalen scored 19 in the quarter while shooting 8-of-11 from the field. The captain set the Knicks franchise record for first-quarter points—beating the record that he and Towns set in the last playoffs. He and Bridges combined for New York’s first 22 points.

We knew it would be a game of runs. Answering with a 10-2 stretch, led by a stretch of perfect shooting by Jalen Brunson (28 PTS, 7 AST), New York leapfrogged ahead by six. Quoth LOB14: “We have the better Jalen.” Cap didn’t have a stellar shooting night (9-22 FG), but he made 75% of his longballs, had a 7:2 assist-to-turnover ratio, and set a winning tone from the start. The better Jalen, indeed.

JALEN BRUNSON IN 5 MINS:

12 PTS
5/5 FG
2/2 3PM

PLAYOFF CAP. pic.twitter.com/Q7M7JB3PgY

— BrunsonMuse (@BrunsonMuse) April 18, 2026

Dyson Daniels (4 PTS, 11 AST, 9 RBS, 3 STL) picked Josh Hart’s (10 PTS, 14 RBS, 3 STL) pocket, which turned into a Jalen Johnson (23 PTS, 7 RBS) triple. Johnson scored eight in the quarter, including a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc, to keep the Birds competitive. The visitors briefly regained a lead thanks to Onyeka Okongwu (19 PTS, 7 RBS) connecting from deep, but the ‘Bockers were laser-focused. By winning the boards and the paint, going 12-of-20 from the field, and holding their guests to 39% shooting, our heroes survived four turnovers and took a 30-24 advantage into the second quarter.

Whoever represents Blake Griffin deserves Agent of the Year honors. Not a single commercial break passed without at least one appearance by Blake’s narrow-eyed noggin. Good for the big fella, I say—he’s likable enough and deserves a Purple Heart for being groped by Donald Sterling.

To start the second quarter, Mitchell Robinson (3 PTS, 4 RBS, 2 BLK) was a blocking machine. With his team continuing to dominate the glass, they pushed out to an 11-point lead early in the period. When the Peaches played at their pace, though, the Knicks had trouble catching up. Steadily, the bad guys clawed their way back with balanced scoring, getting contributions from multiple guys. When McCollum hit a nine-foot floater with 3:43 on the clock, logging his 15th point of the contest, the score was knotted at 48 apiece.

Mitchell Robinson: rim protector 🚫

The Knicks' center is doing his thing in Game 1! pic.twitter.com/oFcnvHChae

— NBA (@NBA) April 18, 2026

After scoring zilch in the opening quarter (although he did run some nifty pick-and-rolls with J.B.), Karl-Anthony Towns (25 PTS, 8 RBS, 3 BLKS) began to score in the second. The All-Star center committed four turnovers in the first half, but redeemed himself with a block at the rim on Nickeil Alexander-Walker (17 PTS, 6-17 FG). Alexander-Walker was quiet through the first half, logging seven points and a team-worst -11 plus-minus.

KAT and Cap got to the charity stripe, the Knicks crashed the boards, and packed on a small lead again. With the clock running down, Johnson pressured New York’s defense and, at the last second, dished to Okongwu for a buzzer-beating three. Halftime score: Knicks 57, Hawks 55.

Through the first half, New York won the glass (27–18), owned the paint (26–20), and shot a touch more efficiently overall (49% to 45%). Despite Atlanta’s three-point shooting (50% on 16 attempts), our heroes led for 83% of the game thus far. Brunson led all scorers with 22. For the Hawks, McCollum had 17, and Daniels already had three steals.

The broadcast crew said something about Fat Joe performing at halftime. Once again, I was pleased to be watching from home. (No offense to the big guy.)

Hawks resorting to plays like this to stop Brunson pic.twitter.com/VwmIXDdjXP

— KNICKS BEAST (@KnicksBeast) April 19, 2026

Twenty seconds into the third quarter, McCollum travelled while attempting a three-pointer. On the nullified shot, the veteran Hawk kicked his foot into the groin of Brunson, dropping Cap to the floor and earning himself a flagrant-one foul. McCollum and Okongwu comprised the Hawks’ offense for a while, while the Knicks went on a 10-2 run, capped by a Josh Hart pick-six steal.

What would a Knicks game be without anxiety? Around the 7:30 mark, OG Anunoby—who was having a quietly effective evening for the Knicks—turned his ankle on a drive and was relieved of his duties. To our surprise, he checked back into the game after a short break, and the tri-state area breathed a sigh of relief.

OG Anunoby twisted his ankle and asked to come out of the game.

Declined treatment from a trainer, re-tied his left shoe.

Here’s Jordan Clarkson and Jose Alvarado using ancient forgotten healing methods on him: pic.twitter.com/qSLGE50m9Z

— Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) April 18, 2026

As the Knicks built up a 10-point lead, capped by a dunk by Bridges, Atlanta’s skipper Quin Snyder tried to get Johnson into the action to mixed results. The team’s top scorer hit a couple of buckets for eight points in the quarter. Meanwhile, KAT continued to have a confusing game, scoring seven points in the period but also coughing up the ball again—before blocking another shot.

BRUNSON THROWS A TOUCHDOWN TO OG.

KNICKS UP 9 HEADING TO THE 4TH 🔥 pic.twitter.com/4bq3oaWYC7

— Fireside Knicks (@FiresideKnicks) April 19, 2026

Despite getting a scant seven points from their bench through three quarters (Shamet 1-of-5 from deep; McBride 0-3 FG), the Knicks held the Hawks to just 19 points in the third and took an 83-74 lead into the fourth.

Jordan Clarkson added a jolt of electricity to start the final frame, connecting with Robinson for an alley-oop. And Deuce McBride finally hit a shot, swishing a triple to give New York its largest lead of the night at 12 points. The bench crew picked up the pace and gave the Hawks a taste of their own medicine. At the other end, Alexander-Walker connected from deep (just his second of the night), only for McBride to answer with another dinger from beyond the arc.

Bench mobbin pic.twitter.com/5KiOkJTVkE

— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 19, 2026

Neither team got many stops, content instead to trade buckets. The 34-year-old McCollum continued to impersonate a spring chicken, and off the bench, Gabe Vincent scored on a drive. For New York, Clarkson answered with a dynamic layup. And so on. When Towns stomped into the lane to score at the cup, though, his efforts goosed New York’s lead to 13 with half a quarter to go. When Clarkson scored on another thrilling contested layup, the lead reached 16. With five minutes left, the young Hawks (those other than McCollum) looked out of sync and rattled.

KAT AND-1.

MSG HYPED inside & outside 🗣️🗣️🗣️

Knicks eyeing 1-0 series lead! pic.twitter.com/zc1WA5bEdr

— NBA (@NBA) April 19, 2026

Out of a timeout, Towns cashed in from 25-feet, crowning a 13-2 run and putting our heroes in a 19-point catbird seat with under four minutes remaining. McCollum missed two free throws at the opposite end as nothing was going right for Snyder’s boys.

But not so fast. After that swish by Towns, the Hawks went on an 11-0 run that included deep balls from Okongwu, Johnson, and Alexander-Walker. With a huge lead slashed to eight in just two minutes, the Birds were knocking on the door with a minute and a half left.

After a timeout, Brunson missed on the next possession, but Hart corralled a defensive board on a Johnson miss. KAT came through with a pounding payup, and N.A.W. cancelled that with one on the other end. With 40 seconds left, Hart made two free throws that essentially sealed the game. Knicks go ahead, 1-0.

Up Next

Game Two will be played at MSG on Monday. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

Box Score

Last Sunday night in Los Angeles, as the Lakers were closing out their regular season against the Jazz, the broadcast cameras landed on two guys courtside who looked like they didn’t belong — and somehow belonged more than anyone else in the building.

Their names are Brandon Taylor and Tom Biddle, and they are not celebrities. Not yet. They’re just two content creators from Indianapolis who showed up courtside to the game dressed as LeBron James and Luka Doncic. 

If Luka and Reaves aren’t good to go at least we have these guys pic.twitter.com/TxlINvKpjH

— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 13, 2026

Tom, better known online as “Popcorn with Tom,” does look uncannily like Doncic. The height, the facial hair, the haircut, if you see him from a distance you might do a double-take. 

Brandon, who goes by the online name of “Young Mantis,”… well, let’s just say his LeBron impression relies a lot more on inner confidence than actual accuracy. 

They went viral anyway. 

In addition to the broadcast cameras, the Lakers’ in-house camera crew spotlighted them. They included them in their “Fan of the Game” contest. They made it down to the final two. But they lost to a young Lakers fan instead. 

This little kid beat out two guys in full Luka Doncic and LeBron James uniforms to win the Lakers fan of the game. pic.twitter.com/fqum5S8ZWk

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) April 13, 2026

“It stuck with me that we didn’t win the Fan of the Game,” Tom told The California Post in an exclusive interview Saturday. “So we decided to upgrade our seats to get more of an advantage tonight.” 

Upgraded is one way to put it. The pair is sitting next to the Rockets’ bench for Game 1 of the NBA playoff series and even got up close and personal with LeBron and his son, Bronny, during pregame warmups. 

Bronny chilling with a different version of LeBron and Luka pic.twitter.com/9CJMlbdokv

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) April 18, 2026

The courtside seats in the playoffs cost north of $100,000, and if you believe them, they did it not for status or clout but for revenge. 

“The Lakers are going to win tonight, but more importantly we’re going to win the game,” Brandon said. “We don’t know how much time LeBron has left. We have to witness greatness.”

James, at 41 years old, is definitely hoping to turn back the clock against the Rockets on Saturday. Without Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique), the undermanned Lakers are heavy underdogs against the younger, athletic and defensive-minded Rockets. 

They’re baaaaack!

The LeBron James and Luka Doncic “impersonators” are back for Game 1 of the NBA Playoffs pic.twitter.com/QD8RIdbu61

— Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) April 18, 2026

So Brandon and Tom decided to lean into it. They stayed in Los Angeles, posted their viral clips and showed back up to Game 1 of the NBA playoff series. 

“I’m hoping to see my boy and get a picture,” said Tom of wanting to meet the real Luka Doncic, who returned to Los Angeles after two weeks in Europe on Friday night and was seated on the Lakers’ bench for Game 1. 

Here’s hoping they win “Fan of the Game” this time.

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The Knicks stepped up on defense in the second half and held on to beat the Atlanta Hawks, 113-102, in Game 1 of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.

Here are the takeaways...

-- Jalen Brunson started the game on fire with 15 of New York's first 22 points, making all six shots he took, including three three-pointers. Mikal Bridges also got involved early, scoring the team's other seven points. Although the Knicks defense wasn't on the same level as the offense, and the Hawks kept pace by finding ways to score inside, blocking shots, and creating turnovers to get out in transition. 

OG Anunoby began to heat up toward the end of the first quarter, getting to the foul line and scoring inside. Brunson capped off his big first quarter with a high floater as time expired, giving him 19 points and the Knicks a 30-24 lead after one. 

-- Mitchell Robinson made his impact right away in the second quarter with a block on Nickeil Alexander-Walker, leading to a Jordan Clarkson dunk. Robinson got his second block a few possessions later and Anunoby buried a step-back three to make it a 38-27 game.

Atlanta continued to fight back as Jonathan Kuminga scored on the fastbreak and Alexander-Walker nailed a three-pointer to cut the New York lead down to three. Josh Hart countered with a layup, but C.J. McCollum came right back with a wide-open three to keep it close with five minutes left in the second quarter.

-- Despite a quiet first half, Karl-Anthony Towns made his presence felt at the end of the second quarter. The All-Star big man got his third assist on an Anunoby dunk and then scored on a dunk of his own for his first basket of the game. He made up for his fourth turnover of the game by blocking Alexander-Walker at the rim, but the Knicks couldn't capitalize on the other end.

Towns made two free throws with 8.0 seconds left, but with the clock winding down, Jalen Johnson found Onyeka Okongwu for three at the buzzer and the Hawks trailed by just two, 57-54. Atlanta outscored New York 31-27 in the second quarter and shot 50 percent from three in the half (8-for-16). Brunson finished with 22 points on 9-for-15 shooting, while McCollum had 17 points (7-for-10 from the field) for the Hawks.

--Towns and Anunoby opened the third quarter with back-to-back three pointers, and Hart turned defense into offense with a steal and fastbreak dunk to go up 68-60. Looking for ways to slow down the Knicks, the Hawks turned to the "hack-a-Mitch" play twice -- and it worked as he went 1-for-4 from the foul line and was subbed out by Mike Brown.

With under a minute left in the quarter, Brunson grabbed a rebound and found Anunoby wide open down the court for an easy dunk, going up 83-74 heading into the fourth.

-- Robinson scored on an alley-oop jam and Miles McBride made his first three-pointer of the night in the fourth quarter, giving the Knicks their biggest lead of the night, 88-76. McBride drilled another three-pointer, but Atlanta kept up with the pace and Alexander-Walker hit a three right back. Towns then took over, making a pair of threes and using his size to score inside and extend the lead to 106-87 on a 13-2 run for NY.

-- It wouldn't be a playoff game without the dramatics as the Hawks made it a 106-98 game all of a sudden with about 1:30 left on the clock. The Knicks were able to hold on, icing the game at the foul line. 

All five Knicks starters finished in double figures -- Brunson (28), Towns (25), Anunoby (19), Bridges (11), and Hart (10). The shot 48 percent from the field and from three-point range (12-for-25). They also won the rebound battle, 45-40, with Hart grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. McCollum finished with just 26 points for the Hawks and Johnson had 23 points.

Game MVP: Karl-Anthony Towns

Towns stepped up in the second half after Brunson's high-scoring first quarter. He scored 19 of his 25 points in the second half, to go along with eight rebounds, four assists (five turnovers), three steals, and a block.

Highlights

Jalen Brunson pull-up pop! 🎯 pic.twitter.com/gblKSMbBbL

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

Beautiful ball movement and Mikal Bridges drains the triple 🔥 pic.twitter.com/KAiGD3OlLe

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

JALEN BRUNSON IS ON FIRE pic.twitter.com/YVPcUlCOFQ

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

19 FIRST QUARTER POINTS FOR JALEN BRUNSON! pic.twitter.com/S30KeusZRk

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

DENIED BY MITCHELL ROBINSON 🚫 pic.twitter.com/hG2x2IwRDh

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

KAT's first bucket of the night 💪 pic.twitter.com/4dNLFuICE3

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 18, 2026

KAT 😤 pic.twitter.com/Uc9yYanDYl

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 19, 2026

What's next

The Knicks and Hawks play Game 2 of their first-round playoff matchup on Monday at 8:20 p.m.

Eventually, the talent discrepancy revealed itself. Eventually, the experience discrepancy revealed itself.

When they did, the game became a mismatch, and the Knicks blew it wide open.

The Hawks were mostly as advertised — young, athletic, full of confidence. And this wasn’t necessarily a vintage Knicks showing — there were a few areas of concern. Their defense, for starters, was porous until a dramatic second-half turnaround.

They were made to sweat a bit. But in the second half, they dragged the Hawks into the deep end and watched Atlanta sink en route to a 113-102 Game 1 win Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

But these Knicks don’t often make anything easy. They led by 19 with 3:14 left in the game before the Hawks ripped off an 11-0 run to cut their deficit to eight with 1:39 left and make it interesting. The Knicks stabilized and avoided catastrophe.

“We had a 7-to-11 [point] lead for the majority of the second half,” Jalen Brunson said. “And then be able to push it to 16, 18, [but] then just finished the fourth not as well as I would like, as well as we would like.

“We know they’re going to be ready for Game 2.”

Brunson came out firing and had 19 points — on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range — in the first quarter. But it was actually the start of the fourth quarter — with Brunson on the bench — that the Knicks had their best stretch. They outscored the Hawks by seven points — to take a 16-point lead — before Brunson checked back in with 5:07 left in the game. Brunson only went 1-for-11 from the field after the first quarter and finished with 28 points.

The Knicks led by as many as 11 early in the second quarter, but the Hawks used a 19-8 run to tie the game. They outscored the Knicks by four points in the second quarter and, after Onyeka Okongwu’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer, only trailed by two at halftime.

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• CHECK OUT THE LATEST NBA STANDINGS AND KNICKS STATS

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The Knicks, though, tightened up defensively and shut down the Hawks coming out of the break. They held Atlanta to 8-for-23 shooting from the field in the third quarter as they rebuilt their lead.

And that’s golden territory for the Knicks. They are the best fourth-quarter team in the NBA and entered Saturday 46-2 when leading to start the fourth quarter. Now, they’re 47-2 — and 1-0 in the postseason.

“Our transition defense was better,” coach Mike Brown said. “Our ability to defend their small-small pick-and-rolls was better. And then our ability to keep them off the glass during that time was a lot better.

“It allowed us to get out and run and attack them in transition. That’s something we have to do while communicating for as close to 48 minutes as possible.”

It was a bit of a roller coaster for Karl-Anthony Towns, who did not score his first points until 4:50 left in the second quarter or hit his first field goal until the 2:53 mark. Towns averaged 28.5 points in the two regular-season games he played against the Hawks — his most against any opponent. For most of the first half, though, Okongwu won that matchup.

But Towns came alive for 19 points in the second half and finished with 25 points and eight rebounds.

OG Anunoby added 18 points and eight rebounds for a mostly balanced Knicks scoring attack. He briefly came out of the game in the third quarter after rolling his left ankle — the same one that forced him to exit the Knicks’ penultimate game — but avoided the locker room and quickly returned.

Josh Hart quietly had 11 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.

Brunson set the tone, Anunoby and Hart were steady presences throughout and Towns finished the job. The scoring was extremely starters heavy with little production from the Knicks bench.

“That’s the thing about having [Brunson] and amazing teammates, we got to get them going early and facilitate,” Towns said. “I thought that opened the game for us, especially in the second half and we did a great job fighting and continuing to score and also impact winning.”

For all that’s been made about the Hawks’ youth, it was actually the veteran CJ McCollum who most hurt the Knicks. With Brunson mainly guarding him, McCollum finished with 26 points. Jalen Johnson added 23 points for the Hawks.

After taking the lead with 2:29 left in the first quarter, the Knicks never trailed again.

The Hawks asked a few questions of the Knicks, but they had plenty of answers. 

DENVER – The last time the Minnesota Timberwolves took the floor at Ball Arena for an NBA Playoff game, it was possibly the greatest game in Timberwolves history.

That night, the Wolves took out the defending champion Denver Nuggets in Game 7, coming back from a 20-point second-half deficit. The win also came with extra significance as it came on Kevin Garnett’s birthday and the 20th anniversary of the franchise’s first trip to the Western Conference Finals.

On Saturday afternoon, the Wolves returned to Mile High for the next chapter in the Timberwolves-Nuggets rivalry that in many ways has defined the last four seasons in the Western Conference.

The game started out promising for Minnesota, as the Wolves jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter. Rudy Gobert locked down the paint while slowing down Nikola Jokić, they forced Denver into six first-quarter turnovers, and the ball movement was absolutely pristine, leading to consistent open looks in the halfcourt.

Ayo Dosunmu corner 3, created by Anthony Edwards + Rudy Gobert + Naz Reid pic.twitter.com/MSJOwWMxHD

— Timberwolves Clips (@WolvesClips) April 18, 2026

From there, it almost all fell apart. The Wolves’ defense slipped, especially on the perimeter, where the guards were getting destroyed on screen, leading to a flurry of Denver 3-pointers. When Gobert went to the bench, the Timberwolves had little to no chance of stopping the Nuggets, especially if Jokić was on the floor.

And possibly most concerningly, the ball movement that got Minnesota the early lead completely dried up, which has been a consistent theme with this team all season. The Nuggets outscored the Wolves 68-46 in the second and third quarters combined to flip a double-digit Minnesota lead into a 12-point lead of their own.

The Timberwolves did find a way to claw back into the game, trailing by only two points halfway through the fourth quarter, but their execution down the stretch of the game prevented them from having a meaningful chance of pulling the game late.

There were awful turnovers, missed defensive assignments, and a lack of attention on the defensive glass, which led to numerous second-chance points for Denver. The most striking difference between the two teams was their ability to find quality offense late in the game.

The Nuggets consistently found open shots in the flow of their offense. While many of their shots did not fall as the Nuggets shot 1-17 from beyond the arc in the second half, their ability to generate open looks speaks more meaningfully toward their chances to win this series and more.

The Wolves, on the other hand, had to take tough shots after tough shots. Anthony Edwards was fantastic in the clutch during the regular season, but he was not able to find that gear in this game, as he scored just five fourth-quarter points before the final garbage-time minute of the game.

The Timberwolves lost Game 1 by a final score of 116-105. Edwards finished the game with 22 points on 7-19 shooting. He did contribute well in other areas, putting up nine rebounds and seven assists, but did not seem to have the explosive burst the Wolves will likely need to see from him to win this series.

“Nah, I felt good,” Edwards said after the game. “A little fatigued, I haven’t played in like a month. But that was expected. Other than that, I felt good.”

Chris Finch felt similar about Edwards’ game and his health, “I didn’t see a ton of physical limitations. It looked like just a rusty game back.”

Without fully knowing the extent to which Edwards’ knee is bothering him, Edwards low-scoring output did seem to be more than just rust. While Edwards had a few nice drives to the rim, the volume of those looks was much lower than what would normally be expected. Ant also shot 2-8 on 3-pointers, potentially indicative of someone struggling with knee pain.

Julius Randle similarly struggled. He scored 16 points on 7-16 shooting while dishing out only two assists, both of which came in the fourth quarter.

Gobert had an outstanding performance. He held Jokić to 25 points while forcing him into five turnovers and put up 17 points and ten rebounds while missing just one of his nine shots. The baskets weren’t just easy lob dunks either. On multiple occasions, Gobert caught a tough pass in traffic and made a nice move toward the basket to score the bucket.

“Both ends, he did a good job,” Jaden McDaniels said about Gobert’s Game 1 performance. “He keep doing that, we’re going to win.”

The Wolves in the first quarter showed the ability to “flip the switch” as they so often have these past couple playoff runs; they have shown the ability to increase their level of play to meet the moment, even in adverse situations. That team was there in the first quarter, but in no way could it sustain that level of play.

That variability in how Minnesota plays has been an issue the entire season. They have desperately needed the ability to stack good performances on good performances, but have been unable to do so since the season started all the way back in October.

That level of consistency is not found in the Playoffs; it has to be built during the regular season to embed it into a team’s DNA. The Wolves did not do that. When they were healthy early in the season, they often opined about waiting for the playoffs to begin. Once injures did hit in March and April, they were unable to close the regular season strong like they did last season.

This series is not over, and it is just one game, but the Wolves are going to have to find a level of play they did not find at all during the regular season. The Nuggets have won 13 straight games dating back to the regular season, and they are out for revenge from two years ago.

Rudy put it best when asked if he would be able to repeat his performance tonight, one that will certainly be needed if the Wolves have any chance to win this series.

“I think we shall see.”

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Up Next

The Timberwolves vs Nuggets series continues with Game 2 back at Ball Arena on Monday. It’s another late-night playoff tip with the game beginning at 9:30 PM CT. Fans can watch the game on NBC and Peacock.

Highlights