Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Game 5 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
The Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the sixth-seeded Hawks and No. 3 Knicks has been a back-and-forth affair, as it returns to Madison Square Garden for Game 5 on Tuesday night tied 2-2. New York is -6.5 on the NBA odds with a total of 213.5 points.
Hawks vs. Knicks NBA Betting Odds
After dropping Games 2-3, the Knicks bounced back with a fairly easy 114-98 win in Atlanta on Saturday to even their Eastern Conference first-round series at 2-2. New York was a +100 series underdog entering Game 4 but is now -220. The Hawks moved from -130 to +180. The exact result favourite is Knicks in seven at +170, and that remains my choice. Atlanta in seven is the +430 long shot. That the series lasts six games is -120 and seven -115.
The Knicks did plenty right on Saturday but one key was slowing Atlanta guard CJ McCollum. He had scored at least 23 points in each of the first three games but was held to 17 in Game 4 and was minus-17. Josh Hart was excellent defensively on both McCollum and Hawks All-Star Jalen Johnson. Atlanta hit just 24.4 per cent from deep and turned it over 19 times, which the Knicks converted into 21 points.
“Josh was really good on the ball,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “Josh is a guy with quick feet, he’s strong and when he gets locked in, he’s locked in. His defensive activity, especially when he [pressures the ball], was fabulous [Saturday night]. Really, really good. And we needed all of it.”
Atlanta Hawks
Toronto native Nickeil Alexander-Walker was held to 15 points in a losing effort in Game 4, but the 2025-26 NBA Most Improved Player hit a playoff career-high-tying five 3-pointers after hitting a career-best 251 during the regular season, the fourth-most in the NBA and the most in a single season in franchise history.
Do-it-all Dyson Daniels has totalled 24 points, 35 rebounds, 25 assists and 10 steals in the series. He’s the first player in the NBA playoffs since Luka Doncic in 2022 to hit all those benchmarks over a four-game span and is just the second Hawks player to do so since Mookie Blaylock in 1997.
In Game 4, Daniels tallied nine rebounds, six assists, two steals and six points. We told you above that CJ McCollum had an off Game 4 but is one of only three players in these playoffs averaging at least 24.0 points on at least 50 per cent from the field (minimum four games played).
New York Knicks
In a rarity, former Raptor OG Anunoby led the Knicks in scoring in Game 4 with 22 points, but it was Karl-Anthony Towns who was the biggest difference. The team ran the offence through the big man, and he responded with a first-ever playoff triple-double of 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. His passing from the top of the key opened up the offence, and Anunoby was a big beneficiary. Towns never had more than five assists in a playoff game previously.
“We just switched our early offense,” coach Mike Brown said. “So with us switching our early offence up the way we did, the ball went to his hands quite a bit.”
Superstar Jalen Brunson was fairly quiet with 19 points on 7-for-18 from the field. He turned his ankle in the third quarter but came back to finish out the game following a trip to the locker room. Brunson is only shooting 41.6 per cent from the field in the series. But he wasn’t victimized nearly as badly defensively in Game 4 as he was in the first three. The Knicks are 7-2 ATS in their past nine.
ATL
NY