After surge to end season, Hawks find it’s harder to win ‘nasty’ in playoffs

It was easy to forget after the Hawks stole Game 2 in New York and pushed back on the Knicks bullies to win Game 3 here.

The lopsided losses in Games 4 and 5 were reminders that the Hawks were rarely tested like this during their late-season surge.

The sixth-seeded Hawks proved they are a good team during that stretch. That’s not the same thing as being good enough to best the third-seeded Knicks in a best-of-seven playoff series.

The difference is stark, as the Hawks return home facing elimination in Game 6 on Thursday at State Farm Arena.

“It’s the playoffs,” Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker told reporters after the Game 5 loss in New York. “Teams are going to throw stuff at you. It’s not going to feel good. You’ve got to be able to get wins when it feels nasty. You’ve got to be able to find a way to gut it out.

“We did in Game. 2. We did in Game 3. (In) Game 4, they responded, and now it’s our turn to respond. It’s not like we haven’t.”

Things are different now, though. The Knicks got caught flat-footed by the scrappy underdogs in the second half of Game 2 and the early stages of Game 3. The Hawks defended with vigor, held their own on the boards and scored in transition.

That formula stopped working once the Knicks pressed their physical advantages at both ends. The Knicks have made the Hawks feel the cumulative effects of engaging in high-intensity, high-stakes games against a bigger and stronger foe.

The Knicks have reestablished order in the series after the Hawks earned two dramatic victories for a 2-1 lead. New York led by 21 points when the Hawks surrendered in Game 4, then beat them by a margin of 29 points in Game 5 at Madison Square Garden.

The Hawks had to grind for points and fight for stops in Games 4 and 5. They could do neither.

“Credit to them,” Alexander-Walker said. “It’s game plans. They’re a team that’s been here (in the playoffs), all that good stuff. They’re applying pressure.”

I don’t see how the Hawks can cope well enough to win two games in a row again. The Knicks are exposing their limitations. The Hawks have plenty of length and talent among their top players, but not much strength or postseason scar tissue.

The Knicks took control of the series by forcing the Hawks to operate in the half court and by closing off driving lanes. CJ McCollum saved the Hawks with crafty scoring in the midrange in Games 2 and 3. Forced to shoot over the top in Games 4 and 5, the Hawks were 23-of-83 (28%) on 3-pointers.

The Hawks have been held to less than 100 points in back-to-back games. The only time that happened during the regular season was Dec. 1 and 3, before the Hawks made trades and lineup changes that transformed them.

“There are times when we look unstoppable,” Alexander-Walker said. “Defensively, if we get more stops, it looks differently and maybe your questions are a little bit different.”

But the Hawks have become a mess on defense, too. The Knicks were 86-of-162 (53%) on 2-pointers in Games 4 and 5. They scored 92 points in the paint and made 43 free throws.

It’s become too easy for the Knicks to score, and too hard for the Hawks. The series will end Thursday night if at least one of those things doesn’t change.

Jalen Johnson said he’s confident the Hawks will be going back to New York for a deciding Game 7 on Saturday.

“I believe in this group of guys, I believe in the mindset that this group of guys have,” Johnson said. “Just knowing that we’ve got home court, just knowing that we are going to be better. Just knowing we will.

“I’m confident in this team. It’s do-or-die now. We have to lay it on the line now. I’m excited to have that chance.”

When the Hawks were beating short-handed and tanking teams late in the season, I doubted they could keep it up in the playoffs. The opponent is better, the pace is slower and the games are more physical.