ATLANTA — The Knicks aren’t buying that this series is over. Not by a long shot. Not even if they just delivered a beatdown of the Hawks in a 114-98 performance at the State Farm Arena on Saturday.
The Knicks evened the series at two games apiece with a dominant performance away from home. Their two losses have each come by one point. Their two victories have been by decisive 11- and 16-point margins.
They know the Hawks, who stole Game 2 off the Madison Square Garden hardwood floors, are more than capable of punching back in Game 5 on Tuesday.
“You never know what that can be. You can’t be satisfied with this performance,” Josh Hart said at his locker after the game. “You can’t go into Game 5 thinking we had a great game, and they’re just going to lay down, ’cause they’re not.
“They’re going to come out with a sense of urgency, a sense of physicality that they probably haven’t shown yet. We’ve got to be ready to weather that storm and have our own physicality.”
Team captain Jalen Brunson said the morale shifted in the locker room in-between the Knicks’ disappointing Game 3 loss to the Hawks and their resounding Game 4 victory on Saturday.
“I think we refocused and understood what was going to be needed tonight,” he said at the podium after the game. “Most importantly, just not being afraid to fail is a mindset we need to have. Let’s go out there and leave it all on the table.”
Hart said he wasn’t particularly encouraged by his team’s performance on Saturday.
“I don’t think [there’s] anything encouraging about it. I think it just reinforces the kind of guys that we have in this locker room,” he said. “We’ve put ourselves in this position [down 2-1]. I know the character we have. We were ready to answer back today, and like I said, [we have to] be ready to build off of it for Game 5.”
“[We have] to continue the way we’re playing, and I think it’s important that we focus on the little things,” Brunson added. “The attention to detail, just knowing everything that we need to know going to this game is going to be really important for us.”
KUDOS FROM THE OPPS
Hawks head coach Quin Snyder credited Hart’s defensive effort as one of the main reasons the Knicks were able to come away with the win in Game 4.
“Give them credit, their aggressiveness on the defensive end. Josh Hart in particular,” Snyder said after the game. “He was guarding everybody.”
Hart said he didn’t do anything different on Saturday.
“I’ve been trying to do that every game this series, trying to be physical with those guys, take that challenge upon myself,” he said. “Don’t think there was anything different today. Trying to do what I’ve been doing. I haven’t been making shots. So I’ve got to make sure I find a way to be impactful.”
FAMILY AFFAIR
Cameras caught Jalen and Rick Brunson in a verbal spat on the sidelines in the second half of Game 4 on Saturday. A reporter characterized the conversation as a debate.
“There’s no debate there,” Brunson said. “Nah. That was two competitors.”
ANKLE UPDATE
Brunson left the State Farm Arena floors walking gingerly but well under his own power after the win. He’s been battling a nagging ankle during this playoff run.
“I’m right here,” he said. “I’m all good.”
