Hawks had bigger problems than Knicks stars Brunson, Towns in Game 1

It was everything else.

The Knicks were better than the Hawks when both Towns and Brunson were on the bench. Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson played timidly with the ball in his hands. Coach Quin Snyder made a strategic blunder by choosing to intentionally foul Mitchell Robinson in the third quarter.

It all added up to a 113-102 Hawks loss to open the best-of-seven series. They went toe-to-toe with the Knicks for one half. The Hawks faded when scoring got harder in the third quarter and they couldn’t guard without fouling at winning time.

“We kind of expected the Knicks to just play their style of basketball,” Johnson said. “I think we did a good job of coming out prepared for that. I think in the second half, we’ve just got to continue to play our brand of basketball.”

The Knicks made that difficult. The Hawks want to run, but they could only manage to score 13 fast-break points.

The Knicks want to grind. They did that, while scoring 24 points on free throws, not including one for a technical foul, and collecting 39 of Atlanta’s 56 missed shots.

The Hawks stayed in the game, even as Brunson came out smoking. The point guard scored 19 points in the first quarter on a variety of shots. There was a fadeaway bank shot, a baseline jumper, a teardrop in the lane and two 3-pointers.

The Hawks managed to keep the deficit at eight points at the end of the first quarter. Then they slowed down Brunson in the second quarter while CJ McCollum went off.

The veteran guard scored 12 points in the period. Each time the Knicks made baskets to get their fans roaring, McCollum answered with a score. The Hawks trailed just 57-55 at halftime.

“We’re a young team playing in a hostile environment against a team who’s favored to beat us,” McCollum said. “So, for me, it’s about reading the game, staying aggressive. Responding to runs is really important, especially on the road.

“They’re going to score. It’s going to be loud. You don’t want to fall into that, but, at the same, time, you can answer some of those momentum-swinging plays with aggression at the other and as well.”

McCollum scored 26 points. None of his teammates were as aggressive, most notably Johnson. He finished with 23 points but didn’t put pressure on the rim often enough and had just three assists.

Johnson would do good work to get into the paint but then try fadeaway shots. He settled for jump shots when smaller defenders switched onto him. There weren’t enough catch-and-go actions from Johnson when the ball swung to him on the perimeter, nor enough drive-and-kick passes to teammates in good positions.

Johnson has played a bit role in the playoffs before. This was the first time he was at the top of the opponent’s scouting report.

“It’s the first game,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there is a ton of room for improvement. I’ve got to go back watch film (and) see other ways I can continue to be effective, continue to get my teammates involved. Just let the game come to me. Not try to force anything.”

There’s a fine line between not forcing it and being too timid. Johnson needs to find it for Game 2. The Hawks also need to do more when Brunson (28 points) and Towns (25) are out of the game.

Both players were on the bench to start the second quarter. New York led 30-24. The lead was 44-36 when they returned. Brown sat Brunson and Towns again to start the fourth quarter with the Knicks up by 11 points. They were still up by 11 when the pair checked back in.

The Knicks built that lead by holding the Hawks to 19 points in the third quarter. They were down 70-63 when Snyder twice had Mo Gueye intentionally foul Robinson, a poor free-throw shooter.

Robinson made just one of four attempts, but the strategy slowed the game down when the Hawks prefer to play fast.

“You can make an argument that helped us, but you make a good point,” Snyder said. “That’s what you’re weighing on some level.”

Why start hacking Robinson then?

“He’s a very impactful player, so (with) an opportunity to do that, we decided it made sense. It only happened twice.”

Gueye had done solid work guarding Towns despite giving up size. He had five fouls after the two take fouls on Robinson. Gueye left the game and didn’t play in the fourth quarter, when Towns scored 11 points.

“The way that our rotation works, Mo isn’t playing as many minutes,” Snyder said. “We didn’t find ourselves in a situation where the foul trouble hurt us.”

Brunson and Towns hurt the Hawks, as expected. But that’s not the main reason the Hawks lost Game 1. It was everything else.

Game 2 is here on Monday. The Hawks have until then to figure out how to control New York’s role players, get more aggression from Johnson and rethink the Hack-A-Robinson tactic.

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