The Atlanta Hawks shot an absolutely putrid 10-of-41 (24.4 percent) from deep in Game 4 to New York's 14-of-31 (45.2 percent) blazing-hot run. With average numbers for each squad, the 16-point loss becomes significantly less substantial and certainly doesn't warrant any overreaction from the Hawks.
Quin Snyder's been around the NBA Playoffs long enough to know a universal truth—if it ain't broke, don't fix it; a 2-2 series tie through four games is very far from broken.
The offensive strategy must remain: attack Brunson, execute inside-out
Just as was foretold by the numbers, the Hawks are executing the plan on offense perfectly—attack Jalen Brunson, attack Jalen Brunson, and then attack Jalen Brunson some more.
Atlanta has seen success offensively time and again by either driving any engine through Brunson off a switch—be it CJ McCollum, Jonathan Kuminga (who is having quite a series), or Jalen Johnson—or executing a four-on-three mismatch if the Knicks elect to double to protect Brunson's defensive weaknesses.
Once the ball is in the paint, the Knicks' defense has seen varied degrees of success by forcing the Hawks to punish them from range. Games 2 and 3 saw a moderate degree of shooting accuracy translate to two back-to-back wins for Atlanta, whereas Game 4 was nothing short of a debacle for the Hawks from 3-point land.
If Atlanta succumbs to forcing shots inside the arc without believing in their ability to bounce back from long range in the final three games of the series, fans should worry about the offense. Let's hope Quin is drilling home the point to keep taking the shots the team has been comfortable making all year long.
The defensive strategy must remain: make others beat you
Just like the offense, the Hawks have already got an excellent scheme down to beat the Knicks in a seven-game series (or rather, a best-of-three series at this point).
Atlanta has pulled out all the stops to shut down Jalen Brunson through four games. Having the ability to always guard Brunson with Dyson Daniels or Nickeil Alexander-Walker as the primary defender is such a rare gift that very, very few other teams have at their disposal.
The Hawks could run into a bit of trouble if the Knicks elect to operate their offense more heavily through Karl-Anthony Towns, but if history has anything to say, it's that Mike Brown will continue to operate through Brunson until proven otherwise.
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