New York Knicks Rivals 2021-22: Atlanta Hawks
What makes this rivarly so great is that it simply sprouted from intense playoff basketball.
There’s not much historical Atlanta-New York sports rivarly. Like all of the New York Knicks’ great rivarlies from the 90s with the Pacers, Heat, and Bulls, their new rivarly with the Atlanta Hawks was born simply from playoff basketball. The latest guest on Brad Dressler and I’s Knicks Unrestricted Podcast, Shaun Geddes from The Knicks Wall, said: “This rivalry came up organically.”
After having the Knicks had their number in the regular season, it was the Hawks that sent the Knicks packing in the first round of the playoffs and won their series 4 games to 1.
In what was arguably the most intense and raucuous atmosphere in the entire playoffs, every time the Hawks came to play in the Garden it was a scene that ended up with National headlines about how intnese the environment was.
With the Knicks-Hawks series was the birth of a new playoff villain, Trae Young.
Young’s heroics (Or anti-heroics for Knicks fans) led to his accension into a more prominent star in the NBA spotlight.
The league has clearly recognized the intensity of the rivarly, and the Knicks and Hawks will now play each other at the Garden on Christmas Day. It will be the Hawks’ first game in the Garden of the season and their first Christmas game in over 30 years.
What makes this rivarly so thrilling for next season is the fact that these two teams will very likely be jostling for positioning in the standings. Every time these two teams square off, it has serious implications for the playoff picture.