Atlanta’s overall depth shows early on in this series

Entering the year, there was a lot of hype surrounding the Atlanta Hawks because of their overall depth and they have not disappointed! Cam Reddish is really the only questionable Hawks player heading into this series as he is still recovering from an Achilles injury, but even without him, the Hawks still have the ability to run 10, sometimes 11 guys deep into their rotations. 

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Trae Young is the driving force for the Hawks offensively, but with other key scoring weapons in Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter and veteran Lou Williams, Atlanta is a sneaky dangerous team that was always a tough team for the Knicks to deal with during the regular season. 

Compared to the Knicks, the Hawks have a lot more talent on their roster and much better pure scorers, which is why their overall depth should show early on in this series. The Knicks only really run 8-9 guys deep in their rotations, which is why the Hawks could have the early edge over them. 

If Atlanta pushes the tempo in transition and can get to the basketb early on in games, then this will force the Knicks to play behind, which is not an ideal situation for them since they are not the most talented offensive team. 

Both the Knicks and the Hawks have shown the ability to be really strong defensive teams at times this year, which is why this series is definitely going to be one that could wind up going the distance. 

Three-Point shooting becomes the key difference in this series:

Both the Knicks and the Hawks are two high-level perimeter shooting teams and this will be the key factor that decides this series. Whoever is taking and making their three-point shots could very well wind up winning this series. 

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During the regular season, the Knicks only ranked 21st in the league in three-pointers made per game, but they shot 39.2% from downtown, the third best percentage in the league. Atlanta ranked 17th in the league in three-pointers made per game, but they ranked 12th in the league in three-point shooting percentage, shooting around 37.3% on the year. 

Of their main rotational players, Alec Burks, Julius Randle, Derrick Rose, Reggie Bullock and R.J. Barrett all shot over 40% from three-point range on the year and for the Hawks, they had 6 key players average 35% or better from three-point range. 

Both teams look to attack the rim and get to the free-throw line, but three-point shooting is going to be a key in this series, especially in the first two games. Whoever is making more three-pointers early on in the series is going to have the early advantage.