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The Atlanta Hawks and the New York Knicks will face off in a 4-5 matchup of the Eastern Conference during the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs. The two teams returned to the postseason after four and eight years, respectively.
Both teams finished with a 41-31 record in the NBA regular season, but the New York Knicks will have a home-court advantage in the upcoming series because they swept the Atlanta Hawks in their three-game regular-season series.
5 things Atlanta Hawks need to do to win against New York Knicks in their first-round matchup of the 2021 NBA Playoffs
The Atlanta Hawks had a solid offensive system throughout the 2020-21 NBA season, guided by Trae Young. They were not as great on defense. Center Clint Capela is the brightest spot in a defense that did not give many guarantees this year.
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Of course, the regular season for the Atlanta Hawks was split into two parts, one with Lloyd Pierce as the coach (14-20 record) and another with Nate McMillan (27-11). Under McMillan, the team had the third-best record (since March 2nd) and put up the eighth-best Offensive Rating and the 13th-best Defensive Rating in the NBA.
In this article, we will take a look at five things that the Atlanta Hawks need to do to change the trend against the New York Knicks this year and secure a win in the upcoming first-round series.
#5 Maintain the defensive identity shown under coach Nate McMillan
As mentioned before, the Atlanta Hawks did not put up the best defensive effort throughout the entire 2020-21 NBA season, as the team finished in 21st place in Defensive Rating. However, they improved to 13th place with Nate McMillan as the head coach.
Against the New York Knicks' offense, which is not the strongest point of Tom Thibodeau's team, the Hawks' defense will need to control the game, with Clint Capela protecting the paint and the perimeter defenders playing well.
#4 Shoot the three-pointer at a high clip
The Atlanta Hawks were 12th in the regular season in three-point shooting percentage, with 37.3% from beyond the arc.
However, in this series, they will meet against the best team at defending the three-point line, Thibodeau's New York Knicks (they allowed 33.7% to rivals from the three-point mark).
During the three losses registered against the Knicks in the regular season, the Hawks only made 33.6% of their threes, and it proved to be costly.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, Trae Young, Danilo Gallinari and others will need to step up from beyond the arc in this series.
#3 Consistency from Trae Young will be essential
In three games versus the New York Knicks in the NBA regular season, Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young put up 24 points, 12 assists and two steals per game.
However, Young made only 36% of his field goals versus the Knicks' strong defense (third-best in the NBA) and a lowly 21% from the three-point line in those three matches.
Throughout the season, Young averaged 25 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while posting 43/34/88 shooting splits. He will need to figure out a way to hurt New York's defense in this series, and that will be one of the keys for the Atlanta Hawks.
#2 Protect the three-point line
The New York Knicks' season-high in three-pointers made in a single game was 19 this year, and they achieved it three times. They did it against the Atlanta Hawks, on April 21st and also made 47.7% of their three-pointers in the three duels against them.
The Knicks also had 12 games where they shot at least 50% from the three-point line. The two games were against the Atlanta Hawks, with one 19-of-35 night from three and another 17-of-34 outing.
The Hawks, which were the third-best team at defending the three-point line throughout the regular season (allowing only a 34.9% clip to the rivals), will need to be effective in that area in this series.
#1 Control Julius Randle defensively
Julius Randle will surely earn a good amount of votes for the 2020-21 NBA MVP award. The New York Knicks forward had a stunning 2020-21 regular season, guiding the Knicks to the East's fourth seed.
Randle averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds and six assists per game this year, with 45/41/81 shooting splits and six triple-doubles (eighth-most in the league this year).
Against the Atlanta Hawks, Randle guided the New York Knicks to a regular-season sweep with 37.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 58% from the field, 50% from three and 81.8% from the free-throw mark.
The Atlanta Hawks will desperately need to slow Randle down in order to compete in the series. Whether it is John Collins or even Clint Capela who guards Randle, it will be an essential area to cover for McMillan's team.
Also read: Jayson Tatum explodes for 50 points as Boston Celtics advance to 2021 NBA Playoffs
