New York Knicks vs. Atlanta Hawks Game 3 Prediction, NBA Playoff Odds
The Eastern Conference first-round playoff series between the third-seeded Knicks and sixth-seeded Hawks shifts to Atlanta tied 1-1 for Game 3 on Thursday night. New York is a 1.5-point favourite on the NBA odds with a total of 216.5.
Knicks vs. Hawks NBA Betting Odds
On Thursday, Atlanta will host its first playoff game since April 27, 2023, when the Hawks lost Game 5 of their first-round series vs. Boston and were eliminated. This season, Atlanta finished 24-17 at State Farm Arena. The team won 14 of its final 15 games there by an average of 17.1 points. That stretch included an 11-game winning streak (Feb. 22-March 30) in which the Hawks became just the second team in NBA history to win at least 11 straight home contests by nine points each. The only other club to do that was the 1946 Washington Capitols.
New York finished 22-19 away during the season and swept the two in Georgia: 128-125 on Dec. 27 and 108-105 on April 6. I’d expect plenty of Knicks’ fans in attendance because there are certainly many New Yorkers in the Atlanta area anyways and for those Knicks fans in NY, it’s much easier to get tickets to see their team in a game like this than at Madison Square Garden. Mini-vacation!
The Knicks had been -425 on the series line entering Game 2 and the Hawks +330 but with Atlanta’s Game 2 upset win, those prices are now -185 and +155, respectively. The over-under for total games is 5.5 but the over is heavily favoured. New York in seven is the +245 exact result leader. That was my pick before the series tipped and remains so. That it goes seven is the slight +145 favourite over six (+150).
New York Knicks
There is no way of sugarcoating Game 2 as the Knicks should be up 2-0 but blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in a 107-106 loss. New York had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when leading by 12 or more after three quarters.
That other lone loss when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals and flashed the “choke” sign at Spike Lee and New York fans.
Even after blowing that big lead, the Knicks had a chance to win at the end of regulation but somehow couldn’t get superstar Jalen Brunson the ball. Instead, Mikal Bridges missed a fadeaway jumper before the buzzer.
Brunson had 29 points but was 10-for-26 from the field and attacked defensively. No other Knicks player had more than 18 points and New York was outscored by seven points in the minutes that both Brunson and fellow star Karl-Anthony Towns sat at the same time.
Mitchell Robinson was good off the bench with 13 points and seven rebounds but no other reserves contributed much. New York is 1-6 ATS in its past seven road games.
Atlanta Hawks
One major difference in Game 1 to Game 2 for the Hawks was to go right at Knicks All-Star Jalen Brunson, and veteran guard CJ McCollum pretty much did what he wanted in that regard. McCollum finished with a game-high 32 points, including three crucial baskets in the final 2:08. The last was for the lead with 34 seconds left over top New York defender and former Raptor OG Anunoby.
McCollum became Public Enemy No. 1 for Knicks fans in this series after drawing many chants from the Madison Square Garden crowd in Game 2 and relishing in them. Jonathan Kuminga did little in Game 1 but was big off the bench in Game 2 with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting with a plus-15 rating.
Atlanta’s defence was a big reason why the team was one of the NBA’s best since the All-Star break, and the Hawks held the Knicks to just 15 points in the fourth quarter of Game 2 on 5-for-22 shooting.
It was the first time the Hawks held their opponent to 15 points or fewer in a single playoff quarter since 2021 and first time they held their foe to 15 points or fewer in the fourth quarter of a playoff game since 2015. Atlanta is 1-4 ATS in its past five as an underdog.
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