Game Day: Knicks vs. Hawks, Game 2, 5/26/21

The Knicks need retribution in Game 2 on their home floor before heading to Atlanta. Can they contain Trae Young and the Hawks to even up the series?

I don’t think I could really do much more justice in this preview than what Benjy did earlier today with his film masterclass. And it’s not like I’ve gotta tell you what the last game looked like, because if you’re reading this you almost definitely watched it. So I’ll just lay out my three keys to this game from my perspective:

1. Don’t tempt fate or anything, but try to set the tone early for what a foul is in this game. I’ve gone back and forth on this, because, unfortunately, there’s a psychological element to officiating in the NBA, and it’s not just an objective thing that we can bank on being the same from game to game. But my general line of thinking is, if you establish early on that a foul on Trae Young is “hack his ass and send him to the floor,” then later on you might not have to deal with crap like that late “foul” by RJ Barrett on Trae the other night.

Of course, the other side to this is that if you get the refs whistle-happy early, they just won’t stop all game. It’s a delicate balance, I guess. Hopefully the Knicks know how whatever officials they get tonight typically call games.

2. Get some length on Trae. Whether it’s Reggie Bullock, RJ Barrett, or, god forbid, Frank Ntilikina for more than 30 total seconds, bother Trae out to the 3-point line. My personal strategy would be to bait him into shooting pull-up threes, and then use those lengthy defenders to still get a good enough challenge on his shot to alter it. He shoots around 33% on pull-up threes, which is good, but not super elite. He’s around the middle of the pack of guys that shoot pull-up threes on volume. That’s a shot I can live with more than lightly contested layups or foul calls.

3. I would say “Don’t start Elfrid Payton,” but, unfortunately, we now know that’s going to happen. I guess I’ll amend this point to say “Only play Elf for one minute to start each half”? I don’t even know anymore. It’s just so stupid to keep throwing him out there when he gives the Hawks a security blanket to hide their worst defender on on one end, and plays subpar, lazy defense on the other. The Knicks are basically at full strength minus Mitchell Robinson, just pull the damn plug already and play your actually useful players.

The game is tonight at 7:30 on TNT and MSG. Come hang with us on Twitter and let’s get weird.