There they are.
There are the real Knicks. The best version of these Knicks. The Knicks that had gone missing in the middle of the series.
They had spent the past few days talking about the need to recreate the sense of “desperation” and “urgency” they played with when trailing the series 2-1. And they came out like a team with no interest in playing with its food.
They put their foot down and blew out the Hawks 126-97 in Game 5 Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden to take a 3-2 series lead. They head to Atlanta with a chance to secure their spot in the second round.
For the second straight game, the Knicks often ran their offense through Karl-Anthony Towns, using him as a hub to initiate their flow. Using him as a focal point — like in Game 4 — brought back the ball movement and fluidity to their offense. And it finally unlocked Jalen Brunson, who had by far his best game of the series and finished with a game-high 39 points — on 15-for-23 shooting from the field — along with eight assists and just one turnover. It created open shots for Anunoby, who continued his stellar series and finished with 17 points.
With 5:01 left in the second quarter, Brunson passed to Towns, curled around him and got it back from him for a wide-open layup to extend the Knicks lead to 16. It was a perfect microcosm of the overall offensive showing.
The Hawks, after Towns’ triple-double in Game 4, adjusted and had the smaller Dyson Daniels guard Towns to start the game. The move backfired. Not only did Towns kill Daniels, but it allowed Brunson to take over without Daniels guarding him.
By the second quarter, the Hawks switched back to having Onyeka Okongwu on Towns. Jonathan Kuminga and Jalen Johnson also got turns on him. The results weren’t much different. Towns finished with 16 points, 14 rebounds and six assists.
Brunson went into attack mode late and made sure there wasn’t even a thought of a Hawks comeback, scoring 17 of his points in the fourth quarter.
It took a while, but the Knicks’ significant size advantage has manifested the past two games. They had an 18-point advantage in points in the paint. They took just 26 3-pointers — way down from their regular-season average of 38.2 — and instead bullied the Hawks down low.
Once the Knicks figured out how to stop CJ McCollum, it was as if the Hawks forgot how to score. McCollum returned to MSG as a ghost rather than a villain. With Josh Hart primarily guarding him, McCollum finished with just six points. Johnson, with Anunoby primarily guarding him, was little help himself.
Anunoby added 10 rebounds, finishing with a second straight double-double. He went 2-for-3 from deep, continuing his red-hot 3-point shooting. Jose Alvarado — who has firmly surpassed Landry Shamet in the rotation — provided a punch off the bench in the second quarter. He played the first six minutes of the quarter and recorded seven points in that stretch.
Mikal Bridges was the first Knicks starter to get subbed out, with Miles McBride replacing him with 5:49 left in the first quarter. The Knicks led by one at the time. But by the end of the quarter, they led by 13. Bridges finished plus-11, the lowest of anyone in the rotation. McBride did not score but finished plus-19.
Anunoby had seven rebounds in the first quarter — his most in a quarter since 2020. The Knicks shot 65.0 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from 3-point range in that first quarter while holding the Hawks to just 1-for-8 shooting from deep. The start set a tone that the Knicks never relinquished. After taking a 10-point lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter, the Knicks led by double digits the rest of the way.
Brunson and Towns took over in the second quarter as the Knicks padded their lead. They scored nine and seven points in the quarter, respectively, unleashing the two-man game that makes them so dangerous — and at times eludes them. When they are clicking like that, it brings out the best version of these Knicks.
The contender version of these Knicks.
