For the third consecutive game, the Atlanta Hawks made life miserable for the New York Knicks on their way to a win, this time in 103-89 fashion to punch their ticket to the second round of the playoffs.
As has been the trend all series, the Knicks simply could not create enough offense against the Hawks to keep up, with a deficit that steadily got larger and larger as the game wore on until the end result was no longer in doubt in the mid-fourth quarter. Leading the way as he has all series for the Hawks was Trae Young, scoring 36 points and dishing out nine assists as he and the Hawks starting lineup continued to bludgeon the Knicks.
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 3, 2021
Icy off the glass
pic.twitter.com/72Af2jL12g
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 3, 2021
Young ended the game with an exclamation point, drilling the dagger from the edge of the logo and then taking a bow to the delight of Reggie Miller.
Trae took a bow after this dagger at MSG
pic.twitter.com/rZyFJ3hvTj
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) June 3, 2021
While not the most efficient night for the Hawks offense, all five Atlanta starters reached double figures, headlined by a 14-point, 14-rebound effort from Clint Capela to walk the walk after talking the talk in the build up to Game 5, doing much of his damage in the first half.
CC has 12 PTS, 9 REB and 2 BLK at the break
Presented by @Verizon pic.twitter.com/Yc3t2c87xI
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 3, 2021
De’Andre Hunter also stepped up in a big way for the Hawks, scoring 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting as one of the few Hawks to find a real offensive rhythm in a sloppy game overall.
Dre is going to work tonight. pic.twitter.com/q0Aa2HAuNz
— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) June 3, 2021
To illustrate just how ugly things were at points in Game 5, the Hawks shot 26.5 percent from three-point range in a game they won by 14, as New York’s offensive woes somehow got even worse as they went out not with a bang but a whimper. Julius Randle played best of all the Knicks scoring 20 points on 7-of-19 shooting, but every possession for the Knicks felt like a root canal, where even if the desired result of a bucket was achieved, it took a painful amount of energy just to get there.
The Knicks shot 37.8 percent from the field in the loss, as they had just 31 made field goals to 16 turnovers in the loss. They simply could not respond to the Hawks’ energy and despite their failed attempts to get themselves going with chippy play and after the whistle physicality, they could never be quite as involved during the run of play as they seemed to be after a whistle blew.
No love lost between Trae and Reggie Bullock
pic.twitter.com/f4HQmxOBUb
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 3, 2021
New York’s effort was so poor that even Spike Lee couldn’t bear to witness the final few minutes of them going out sad, exiting with three minutes to play and the game well in hand for Atlanta.
Spike's seen enough
Left the game early pic.twitter.com/XDJvs4XRpD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 3, 2021
The Hawks will move on to face the Sixers on Sunday in Philadelphia, while the Knicks will enter an offseason on a sour note after a spectacular, surprising season. The bitter taste at the end may end up being good for New York, which has clear holes to fill in the offseason and will have seen that on full display in a series most thought would be a toss-up. Atlanta, meanwhile, saw Young step fully into the role of superstar in the postseason for the first time and will now get a very different test in a Sixers team that might at least begin the series without the presence of their MVP candidate in Joel Embiid.
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