Knicks crush Hawks 51-point rout

The Knicks didn’t just close out the Hawks on Thursday night. They detonated the series. New York beat Atlanta 140-89 in Game 6 on April 30, finished the first(espn.com)f scorelines the league has seen in years. By halftime, the game was basically over — and the record book was already open. (espn.com)he half, which made the margin 47 points — the largest halftime lead in NBA playoff history. The final margin, 51 points, became the biggest playoff win in Knicks franchise history, and New York even led by as many as 61 during the game. (nba.com) ### Did this start as a normal game? For about two minutes, yes. Atlanta opened on a 9-0 run and briefly had the building alive. Then the Knicks ripped off a 43-6 answer and turned the game into a procession. By the end of the first quarter, N(espn.com) halftime score feel less fluky — this wasn’t one hot stretch late, it was a full-game avalanche almost from the jump. (nba.com) ### Who drove the blowout? Pretty much everyone in New York’s main group. OG Anunob(nba.com)8 assists. Karl-Anthony Towns only scored 12, but he finished with 11 rebounds and 10 assists — his second triple-double of the series. The Knicks shot 58.8% as a team and piled up 33 assists, which tells you this was less hero ball than machine ball. (nba.com) ### Why did the series swing so hard? Because it looked shaky for New York a week ago. The Knicks wer(nba.com)ous lower seeds do — messy, close, drag-you-into-the-mud basketball. But New York responded with three straight wins, by 14, then 29, then 51. That’s not surviving a scare. That’s solving the puzzle and then stomping on it. (espn.com) ### What changed for the Knicks? The offense seems to have loosened up around Towns. Mike Brown said after the game that (nba.com)become a grind. The adjustment turned Towns into more of a hub and facilitator, with cutters moving around him and Atlanta’s smaller defenders getting scrambled. That helps explain why the scoring looked so spread out and why the Knicks suddenly stopped looking cramped. (espn.com) ### Does a win like this mean more? Yes — but carefully. One blo(espn.com)ries. It was a road closeout game, and the Knicks turned it into a statement about ceiling. For a team that spent part of the series looking vulnerable, ending it with a playoff-history halftime lead changes the mood fast. (espn.com) ### So what happens now? Now they wait. New York advanced to the Eastern Conference semifinals and will face the winner of the Boston Cel(espn.com)ans the Knicks get two things at once — momentum and rest. After a finish like this, both matter. (espn.com) ### Bottom line? The Knicks didn’t just beat the Hawks. They found an answer mid-series, ripped off three straight wins, and ended the matchup with a 51-point hammer blow. That doesn’t prov(espn.com)ibility. (espn.com)