Game: A Recap

Since 1972, the same year in which The Omni opened in Atlanta, the taking (that is, the killing, capturing, selling, trading and/or transport) of protected migratory bird species without prior authorization by the Department of the Interior is prohibited under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, as amended via an agreement with Japan in 1972. First violation fines may reach $100k, maybe a year in prison if it suits you. 

Rather than leaving it to a federal approval that hmm might never arrive, the New York Knicks engaged in some taking (that is, killing, capturing, selling, trading and/or transport) of some old avian foes. While hawks are a protected species, the Atlanta Hawks knew no protection from OG Anunoby, who led the Knicks to an NBA playoff record 47-point halftime lead and, ultimately, a 140-89 series-clinching victory over the charred fowl.

When Dyson Daniels and Mitchell Robinson got into a scuffle at the free throw line while watching Anunoby sink one to put New York up 50 with nearly five minutes remaining in the first half, it felt strategic for both of them: Daniels, the budding star Atlanta kept when they traded away erstwhile Knicks nuisance Trae Young at the deadline, was frustrated, so he riled up Mitchell Robinson, who retaliated, and they received dueling ejections. 

Robinson, in the midst of another crucially great playoff showing, had not long previously extended his right leg on a putback, briefly going to the locker room and sending most Knicks fans to the presumptive basketball morgue, but he returned just long enough to get gone again.

Daniels, on the other hand, had struggled through his second time in the playoffs; when everybody’s pal CJ McCollum rose up in the first two games of the series, it seemed like Daniels’ shooting struggles wouldn’t matter. Red-tailed hawks can learn flight early, but they tend to have to stick around their folks for a minute to learn the worm ropes.

Entering Game 6, on the road in Atlanta, from the perspective of the average Knicks fan was a study in nervous optimism: the offense had figured itself out, especially in Game 5, when Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anunoby combined for 72 of the Knicks’ 126 points, Brunson accounting for 39 alone. Even so, Quin Snyder and co. had shown up the Knicks, winning a pair of one-point games and playing tightly enough to give pause.

Atlanta ran out to a 9-5, and that was the last of that. The Knicks were up 40-15 after the first quarter; Anunoby had 26 of his 29 in the first half and was outscoring the Hawks by himself for a large portion of that time. 

New York stretched the lead to as much as 61 and were up by 47 at the half. Of some curiosity, given the enormity of this blowout and how their offense generally works: neither of Brunson nor Towns eclipsed 20 points on the night, the former pitching in a dutiful 17 and 8, and the latter putting up a triple-double on 1-4 from the field and 10-10 from the free throw line, with eleven rebounds and ten assists.

Instead, it was the culmination of all the moving parts. Every starter was in double-digits – after a pair of disappearing acts and the requisite offseason trade spec that accompanies that, Mikal Bridges put up 24 points on 12 shots. Josh Hart, in the midst of a back contusion, delivered his obligatory 14-5-2. Thrown the keys in the dwindling minutes of the third, the bench mob listened to bad music, heard some wrong directions and got the Knicks home safely and with aplomb.

Up next is whomever remains between the gilded Boston Celtics and the resurgent Philadelphia 76ers, who are headed to a Game 7 on Sunday after the Sixers forced the issue with a dominant win Thursday night. The Knicks, instead, will rest. Que sera, sera.