The Knicks are known as a physical team that plays hard — or so the narrative has gone this season, anyway.
But center Clint Capela has a different take on it, with the No. 5-seed Hawks up 3-1 in their first-round NBA playoff series vs. the No. 4-seed Knicks, on the brink of sending New York packing.
“They’re trying to play tough,” Capela said, pushing back on the notion that the Knicks are an outright physical team. “Push our guys around, talk (expletive), but we can do that, too. And we showed them as soon as they came back here that we can push guys around, too. We can talk (expletive) as well. So whatcha gonna do about it? And we can get a win with it. So whatcha gonna do about it? Oh, Game 4 you’re coming back again. Well, it’s going to happen again. We talk (expletive), and we win the game and we push around, so whatcha gonna do about it? So that’s what happened. We can do it, too. We can be physical, but we can win games, as well. Now we’re coming to your home to win this game again to send you on vacation.”
The Knicks had the league’s No. 1 scoring defense in the regular season (holding opponents to 104.7 points per game), and also swept the shorthanded Hawks 3-0 in their regular-season matchups. But playing a team for an entire series in the postseason is a different beast, per Capela.
He pointed to Julius Randle’s flagrant foul on Danilo Gallinari late in the fourth quarter of Game 4, with the Hawks leading by 24 (Randle said the play was retaliation for Gallinari elbowing Reggie Bullock earlier).
“Of course that was a dirty play, retaliation or not,” said Capela, who continues to be the Hawks’ defensive anchor. “That’s not how you play hard. Maybe if you dunk on him, all right, you got him back, but just shoving, we all can shove someone. … That says it all, that you don’t have any more solutions but playing that way. … You’re trying to look physical, but it’s not working. It’s kind of a last solution.”
Capela shared some strong words, which the Hawks will have to back up in Game 5 on Wednesday, playing in front of a raucous Madison Square Garden crowd. The Hawks have been the better team in the series, winning two consecutive games at home in decisive fashion, as they buckle down on defense and showcase their crafty offense led by guard Trae Young. They split the first two games in New York 1-1, with Young’s last-second game-winning floater in Game 1.
But elimination games have a way of upping the intensity even more, in a series with ample jawboning and four flagrant fouls already. To break those down: For the Knicks, Bullock received a flagrant-1 in Game 2, and Randle received a flagrant-1 in Game 4. For the Hawks, wing Kevin Huerter received a flagrant-1 in Game 3 and in Game 4.
In response to Capela’s comment when questioned by New York reporters, Randle said, “Why would I give a hell what Clint Capela has to say?”
Game 5 absolutely will be the toughest game for the Hawks so far, per interim coach Nate McMillan, with the Knicks back in their own building and facing elimination. The Hawks must be ready for that.
“I think any time a team has their backs against the wall, they’re going to come out fighting, and we know that,” McMillan said. “And we have to come out with that urgency as well. It’s going to be a tough game. All the games have been tough. And we understand the environment that we’re going into, so we have to be ready for that, and I think our guys will be.”
With the opportunity to close the series while they have the Knicks on the run, the Hawks don’t want to give the Knicks any confidence, Huerter said: “We’ve played well at home the last two games. To go in and finish this thing up in their gym, we don’t want to give them the opportunity to come back to Atlanta and continue the series.”
“We want to take the next one. … We don’t want to give them life,” he added.
Hawks-Knicks playoff series
Game 1 - Hawks 107, Knicks 105
Game 2 - Knicks 101, Hawks 92
Game 3 - Hawks 105, Knicks 94
Game 4 - Hawks 113, Knicks 96
