It has been 35 days since the Atlanta Hawks' season ended with a first-round loss to the Knicks in the playoffs. Getting beaten by the soon-to-be Eastern Conference champion might've been enough to make fans feel a little better about losing to them, but it goes deeper than that. Atlanta is the only team that has beaten New York in the postseason.
The Knicks haven't lost a game since April 23, 42 days ago, when the Hawks went up 2-1. It feels like that was a lifetime ago because, well, in the NBA world, it was. So much has happened since then.
New York swept Philadelphia in the second round and then did the same to Cleveland in the conference finals. The Knicks were down by as many as 14 points in Game 1 of the NBA Finals against the Spurs, but they executed down the stretch on the back of, you guessed it, Jalen Brunson.
Hawks are still the only team to beat Knicks in the playoffs
CJ McCollum, who is 34, challenged New York significantly more than Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Donovan Mitchell, and James Harden. Now, at least temporarily, Victor Wembanyama is on that list after the Knicks' defense, specifically Karl-Anthony Towns, shut him down on Wednesday.
New York's dominance has been unstoppable. The Cavaliers thought they would steal Game 1 of the ECF after they were up by as many as 22 points in the fourth quarter, but the Knicks said nah. The Spurs thought they'd jump out to a 1-0 lead in the finals, but yet again, New York had other plans.
The Hawks are the only ones who have managed to pull one over on the Knicks, and they did it twice.
It's not that Atlanta fans are rooting for New York (or, at least, they shouldn't be), but watching them play as well as they have gives the Hawks even more reason to hope for the future. After all, they weren't supposed to make it to the playoffs after trading Trae Young, but they were better because of it. And they put up a good fight in the first round, but it just wasn't enough.
The Sixers and Cavaliers can't say that they put up a good fight, because they didn't. It's a little hard to believe the Spurs won't at least win a game or two in the finals, but there is still a chance that, when all is said and done, the Hawks will remain the only team to throw the Knicks for a loop.
You can't hang a banner off that, but if all goes to Onsi Saleh's plan, that's coming in the future.
Add us as a preferred source on Google