The Knicks lost twice Sunday.
After dropping their meaningless regular-season finale, the Knicks learned their first-round opponent will be the Hawks instead of the Raptors.
On paper, that’s a tougher series for the Knicks. They went 2-1 against the Hawks in the regular season — winning a pair of close games in Atlanta while getting blown out at home — sometimes struggling to deal with Atlanta’s athleticism.
Conversely, the Knicks dominated the Raptors this season — going 5-0 — and would’ve been a solid bet to overwhelm Toronto in five games or fewer.
The Knicks, who finished with a 53-29 record after Sunday’s 110-96 loss to the Hornets, are still favored against the Hawks, but it’s a tougher matchup.
Plus, the Hawks clearly aren’t scared of the Knicks after resting their top players in a blowout loss Sunday to the Heat. If the Hawks had beaten Miami, they would’ve faced the Cavs in the first round.
Instead, Hawks coach Quin Snyder said he prioritized health, and he got the Knicks.
“The primary thing is for us to be healthy going into the postseason,” Snyder said.
It’s a rematch of the 2021 first round, although without former Garden villain Trae Young, who was traded midseason to the Wizards.
This time, Jalen Johnson, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, CJ McCollum and Dyson Daniels are the biggest threats to New York. They’re young and dangerous.
“They’re a great team. I’m looking forward to the matchup,” Knicks guard Miles McBride said. “They are a team that defends really well. They’ve got guys who can go get a bucket on the offensive end, but their team defense is really something challenging. So, it’s going to be an exciting playoff series.”
The series also required a surprising result elsewhere.
The Celtics, who were locked into the second seed and sat their top players, shocked the Magic in the second half of their 113-108 victory Sunday. It left a two-way tie for fifth in the East, and the Raptors won the tiebreaker over the Hawks because of head-to-head results.
The final East standings became:
1. Pistons, 2. Celtics, 3. Knicks, 4. Cavs, 5. Raptors, 6. Hawks, 7. Sixers, 8. Magic, 9. Hornets, 10. Heat.
The Knicks were locked into the third seed before Sunday’s results and thus rested most of their playoff rotation. The only active regular starter was Mikal Bridges, who logged 23 seconds to maintain his consecutive games played streak.
McBride (21 points) and Jordan Clarkson (two points, 15 minutes) were the other top nine players. Jose Alvarado (16 points) and Mohamed Diawara (5 points) each logged 34 minutes. Diawara, the rookie, shot 0-for-5 from deep.
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More significant to the Knicks were the results outside MSG, which left coach Mike Brown unaware of his playoff opponent until after his postgame news conference Sunday. The reason? The Celtics-Magic game was prolonged as a national TV broadcast.
“Atlanta’s a good team. Everybody’s good,” Brown said while being careful with his words, knowing he might still face the Raptors. “Everyone is going to pose challenges. I don’t know who we’re gonna play, but we’re gonna face different challenges from everybody because everybody is special at this time.”
Regardless, the Knicks have already been scouting potential playoff opponents. Brown said he anticipates breaking down film of the Hawks with his players Tuesday or Wednesday.
They’ll get almost a week off during the play-in tournament, and then it’s Game 1 against the lively Hawks.
“Just a really good team,” Clarkson said. “They’re led by Nickeil. He’s been playing great all year. They made some trades at the deadline and got CJ McCollum [for Young]. Down the line they are a really good team. So it’s going to be an exciting series.”
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