Give the Atlanta Hawks credit. The New York Knicks just had a 16-3 record through this year’s playoffs en route to their first championship in 53 years. When not playing Atlanta, New York went 12-1.
The Hawks won two of the first three contests in the opening round matchup. After that, they weren’t all that competitive in three straight losses. Speaking with SiriusXM NBA Radio on Sunday, Hawks guard CJ McCollum talked about that series.
“They figured something out.” McCollum said. “We pushed them to the limit.”
Did they? With the way the series came to a conclusion, can it really be said that the Knicks were pushed to their limit?
Three straight blowouts to end the series
The first three games of the Knicks/Hawks series made it seem like the series would be a close one. A late run put a bit of a scare into New York fans in Game 1, but the Knicks prevailed.
Game 2 saw New York blow an eight-point lead with less than five minutes to go, losing by one. The next game saw the Knicks attempting the comeback. They trailed by nine with less than eight minutes to go, eventually took the lead, but fell by one point again as the final buzzer sounded.
Trailing 2-1 in the matchup, the Knicks then won the ensuing three games by 16, 29, and then closed it out with a 51-point victory. In the Game 6 clincher, they were up 83-36 at halftime. The game was a laugher almost from the get-go, and all of New York's starters got to sit and watch for the final 14:45 of game time.
Saying that the Hawks won more games than the Knicks’ next three opponents combined would be a factual statement. Claiming that Atlanta pushed them to the limit? Opinion, but not really a valid one. Even when the Hawks had an early 2-1 series lead, the Knicks outscored them by nine points in those meetings.
McCollum is not wrong with saying that the Knicks figured something out. That is somewhat of an understatement. The way that the series ended though, saying that the Hawks pushed the Knicks to the limit surely seems to be inaccurate. Since New York won the next three to put an end to the series by a combined 95 points, they outscored Atlanta by triple-digits in the six games.
If the series had gone the full seven, it could make sense to say the Knicks were pushed to their limits. When it doesn’t go the full amount, and the closeout game was essentially over in the first quarter, McCollum’s statement isn’t a correct one.
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