The New York Knicks making the most of their second-chance opportunities proved to be a major influence on the club's commanding 113-102 win over the Hawks in Saturday's Game 1 opener.
Perhaps the most terrifying part of this key area of domination is that they were tremendously effective despite Mitchell Robinson having zero offensive rebounds on the night.
That's right, New York's league-best rebounding weapon wasn't directly responsible for any of their second-chance opportunities, yet they still wound up outscoring Atlanta in this department 13-7.
With this in mind, one can only imagine just how much more productive the Knicks should become with Robinson, a man who literally out-rebounds a number of teams himself on the offensive end with 10.5 boards per 100 possessions, tapping back into his regular level of play.
This is a fact that should not only get Knicks fans excited for what could be to come as they make their way through this series, but also terrify Atlanta as they already find themselves heading into Game 2 down 0-1.
Controlling the glass and taking care of ball are keys to Knicks series win
Needless to say, controlling the boards should prove to be one of the primary keys to a quarterfinals win for the Knicks here in the 2026 postseason, for the team that pulls down the most rebounds generally tends to come away with the most possessions.
They're already off to a great start in this department, and a locked-in Mitch will only make them even better.
Right alongside this key, as far as importance is concerned, however, is making sure said possessions count.
Holding onto the ball is certainly how they can make sure to do this.
Following their series opener, the Knicks have now committed fewer turnovers than their opponent 45 times this season, and sport a record of 38-7 in such instances.
To put this into perspective, as recently pointed out by Daily Knicks' own Dan Favale, this is essentially the equivilent to winning 69 games in an 82-game season.
Clearly, executing possessions properly is a major factor in this team's success.
Coming across more with the help of Robinson's rebounding skills and securely running them thanks to Jalen Brunson's exceptional ability to hold onto the ball while boasting such ridiculous usage -- has four seasons with a usage rate above 27 with a turnover percentage of 10.5 or less -- should only further strengthen New York's odds of pulling away from round one rather effortlessly.
Add us as a preferred source on Google