Knicks not buying Hawks will lay down after Game 4 rout in Atlanta
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.