Knicks draw Hawks in first round

New York is set to open the National Basketball Association playoffs against Atlanta after finishing third in the Eastern Conference and drawing the sixth-seeded Hawks. (nba.com) The Knicks closed the regular season at 53-29, good for the No. 3 seed in the East, while the Hawks finished 46-36 and avoided the Play-In Tournament by holding the No. 6 spot. (espn.com) The league’s playoff calendar has the SoFi Play-In Tournament running from Tuesday, April 14, through Friday, April 17, with the first round beginning Saturday, April 18. National Basketball Association preview coverage lists Game 1 as Hawks at Knicks on Saturday, April 18, at 6 p.m. Eastern on Prime Video. (nba.com, nba.com) This matchup revives one of the Knicks’ more charged recent playoff losses. Atlanta beat New York 4-1 in the 2021 first round, a series that turned Trae Young into a Madison Square Garden villain and ended the Knicks’ first postseason trip in eight years. (nytimes.com) The stakes are different this time because New York enters with home-court advantage and a higher seed, not as the surprise team. The Knicks have now reached the playoffs for a fourth straight season, and this bracket gives them a first-round opponent outside the East’s top five. (usatoday.com, espn.com) Preview coverage has centered on how New York’s frontcourt and Atlanta’s guard play could shape the series. The Athletic pointed to Karl-Anthony Towns’ impact for the Knicks, while National Basketball Association coverage framed Knicks-Hawks as one of the first-round series to watch. (nytimes.com, nytimes.com, nba.com) For New York, the immediate question is whether this run looks more like the 2021 disappointment against Atlanta or the deeper pushes that followed in later postseasons. The answer starts Saturday night, when the Knicks finally know both their opponent and the date the rematch begins. (nytimes.com, nba.com)