Takeaways: Hawks leave ‘room for improvement’ after Game 1 loss to Knicks

NEW YORK — The Hawks put Game 1 of their first-round series of the Eastern Conference playoffs behind them. They opened the series on a sour note, falling to the Knicks 113-102 on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden.

Although the Hawks stayed close in the first half, they couldn’t hold in the third quarter. They got close in the final minutes, but didn’t get close enough down the stretch.

Here are some takeaways:

Finding aggression

Since the Knicks have plenty of players who can get hot, the Hawks needed to be aggressive. The Hawks did not move the ball, run the floor or attack the basket to create space and get to their spots.

Instead, the Hawks allowed the ball to stick, giving the Knicks’ defense time to set. When the Knicks adjusted to those isolation plays, they forced the Hawks into live-ball turnovers when they eventually tried to drive.

The Hawks’ lack of physicality on the offensive end limited their ability to draw favorable contact and potentially draw free throws. The Hawks attempted just 19 free throws to the Knicks’ 30.

McCollum stands out

While the Hawks as a collective struggled with their assertiveness, veteran guard CJ McCollum willed them through the first half with 17 points in 16 minutes.

He made step-back midrange jumpers, driving reverse layups, driving floaters and shots from the wing.

McCollum shot 70% from the floor and went 3-of-4 of 3-pointers in the first half. But he didn’t shy away from trying to go shot-for-shot with the Knicks, who tried to pull away.

“I think that aggressiveness, we need that from everybody,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. “And you may not always be the one that gets the shot, but that aggressiveness is something that I think, particularly when you play a team that’s as good as (the Knicks) are defensively, you can’t just pass it around the perimeter so you’ve moved it.”

Making adjustments

Some of that boldness will have to come from forward Jalen Johnson. The 24-year-old had a quiet game compared to what the team has become accustomed to.

Johnson averaged just 8.1 minutes per game across his previous two postseasons. He played 39 minutes Saturday.

The Hawks will need him to accelerate his postseason adjustment period and provide the playmaking that helped their regular-season success.

He scored 23 points and had seven rebounds. But the Hawks will need even more effort on the glass against the Knicks’ bigs, as well as his skills to the ball in transition and create plays.

Johnson had just four assists Saturday after averaging 7.9 per game this year.

“It’s the first game,” Johnson said. “Obviously, there’s a ton of room for improvement. I just got to go back, watch film, see other ways I can continue to be effective. Continue to get my teammates involved and, yeah, just let the game come to me, not trying to force anything. Just continue to play my game. Continue to trust my teammates and continue for them to trust in me.”

Defending the Knicks

The Hawks made good adjustments in some of their defensive assignments. After allowing Jalen Brunson to score 19 in the first quarter, they held him to nine points the rest of the way.