The Win Column: Hawks in the playoffs edition
Well butter my biscuits.
It’s April 18, 2026, and the Hawks — the Trae Young-less Hawks — are playing meaningful basketball.
Don’t expect any bowing at midcourt, but it should be a banger. And there’s still room for trash talk, right?
DEAR KNICKS FANS …
Why are you like this?
As one (self-anointed and extremely unofficial) voice of Atlanta fandom, I regret to inform you that the Knickerbockers are not the Yankees. Or the Lakers. Or the Celtics.
They’re more like the Dallas Cowboys, or that baseball team from Flushing.
Overhyped and underwhelming. For decades.
I’ll point out that the salad days of the 1990s were almost 30 years ago. And the last time your team won a title, I was negative-14 years old.
I’m currently pushing 40.
Honestly, the entire Knicks “tradition” consists of one old building and a movie director sitting on the sideline in funky glasses.
In fact, let me backtrack a little: You know who the Knicks are?
For a while now, they’ve basically been the Hawks … with smaller apartments and higher rent.
📊 This series marks New York’s fifth playoff appearance of the 2020s. It’s the Hawks’ fourth.
📊 The 2010s? Hawks 8, Knicks 3.
📊 The 2000s? Two appearances apiece.
Bing bong!
Now, I know what you’re thinking: The Hawks don’t win titles either.
Shouts to Big Bob Pettit and the 1958 St. Louis Hawks, but you’re otherwise correct. The thing is, though, we don’t pretend they’re going to. We don’t act like they’re God’s gift to basketball, even when they’re mired in mid-ness.
We’re fans down here. Not rubes.
Generally speaking, the Atlanta ethos is excitement, sans unrealistic expectations. We hope for the best, know we probably won’t get it and enjoy the ride.
It’s the best way to live (and perhaps a factor in roughly half of your fellow Northeasterners fleeing to our fair city).
Were the Hawks supposed to be here, like this?
Absolutely not. But the dismissiveness from Knicks World belies New York’s own history … and suggests a distinct lack of ball-knowing.
Winning 20 of 26 after the All-Star break is real, whoever the opposition (and they were beating the brakes off those bad teams, thank you).
Jalen Johnson is real.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels and CJ McCollum and Onyeka Okongwu (my dark horse candidate for the series’ villain role) are real.
Vastly improved post-Trae Young defense? Also real.
Who knows if the Hawks will survive and advance. It would be nice to have a little more depth down low, and it’ll be interesting to see who steps up as a closer (or tries to).
But y’all best prepare yourselves for the possibility.
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HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
On a less … ornery note, beat writer Lauren Williams (@WilliamsLaurenL) and columnist Michael Cunningham (@MCunninghamAJC) are both headed to MSG for all the action.
All their coverage lands at AJC.com/hawks, so go ahead and bookmark it.
📺 In terms of television, you’re gonna need Prime Video to watch at least two games.
- Game 1: at Knicks, Saturday, 6 p.m., Prime
- Game 2: at Knicks, Monday, 8 p.m., NBC
- Game 3: at Hawks, April 23, 7 p.m., Prime
- Game 4: at Hawks, April 25, 6 p.m., NBC
- Game 5*: at Knicks, April 28, time TBD
- Game 6*: at Hawks, April 30, time TBD
- Game 7*: at Knicks, May 2, time TBD
Those last three are if necessary.
Either way: Don’t expect to hear Uncle Bob Rathbun and Dominique Wilkins on the call. It is, alas, all national broadcasters from here on out.
HOW THEY MATCH UP
The Hawks dropped two of three to the Knicks in the regular season, including that April 6 affair where McCollum’s game-tying buzzer beater was about a tenth of a second late.
But the losses were both by a measly three points — and all things considered, it’s not a terrible matchup for Atlanta.
“I think they have more chemistry than the Knicks do,” one NBA scout told the AJC. “I believe the Knicks might be a greater collection of talent, but I think Atlanta has gotten more out of their team than the Knicks have this season.”
More perspective in the link, and in our position-by-position breakdown.
A few key points from the latter:
- The Knicks’ Jalen Brunson, reigning NBA Clutch Player of the Year, shot nearly 37% from 3 during the regular season. Thanks in no small part to Daniels, the Hawks held him under 30% during their matchups.
- Atlanta’s Alexander-Walker went for 36, 23 and 25 points against the Knicks this season … and has averaged more than 26 points on nearly 58% shooting in April. (Read this new story about NAW and McCollum!)
- Knicks big Karl-Anthony Towns torched the Hawks this season, averaging 28.5 points and 13.5 rebounds on 63% overall shooting and 50% shooting from 3.
As beat-writing Lauren points out, the benches may be most important … and both teams have guys who’ve shown up in the playoffs before.
SPEAKING OF PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE …
The Hawks, as individuals, have more of it than a casual observer might realize.
Okongwu didn’t see a lot of action, but he’s been around long enough to have played on the 2021 Hawks team that beat New York en route to the Eastern Conference Finals. Johnson saw similarly limited playing time during Atlanta’s (brief) postseason forays of 2022 and 2023.
Career playoff games for a few other Hawks:
- CJ McCollum: 67, including a Western Conference Finals appearance way back in 2019.
- Gabe Vincent: 54, including a 2023 NBA Finals run.
- Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 37, including a 2025 Western Conference Finals appearance.
- Jonathan Kuminga: 34, including a 2022 title run with Golden State.
- Tony Bradley: 20, including a 2025 NBA Finals appearance.
WHAT WE THINK WILL HAPPEN
We kicked off a reader poll in Wednesday’s edition of the Win Column … and I found myself pleasantly surprised by the general optimism.
About 60% of voters picked the Hawks to win in six or seven games. Another 37% picked New York in six or seven. “Knicks in a rout” garnered one lonely vote.
We also put together some AJC staff picks. They’re (mostly) bullish, too.
Full predictions here, but how about a couple teaser excerpts?
🔮 “This begins Jalen Johnson’s national ascension. If he fares well against the Knicks’ feisty defenders, he’ll start to be taken seriously as one of the NBA’s rising young talents. Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s breakout will also get its due credit on the New York stage.”
🔮 “It’ll be close, but the Knicks are the better team, have home-court advantage and have much more playoff experience. That’s a lot for the Hawks to overcome.”
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Remember what happened the last time the Mayor of that City had my name in his mouth during a time like this… #DontBlameMeWhenItHappensAgain
Thanks for reading to the very bottom of the Win Column. Questions, comments, ideas? Contact me at tyler.estep@ajc.com.
Until next time.
About the Author
Tyler Estep hosts the AJC Win Column, Atlanta's new weekly destination for all things sports. He also shepherds the Sports Daily and Braves Report newsletters to your inbox.
