Knicks Will Easily Cover This Short Spread In Game 1

Hawks vs. Knicks, 6:00 ET

The official Playoffs are here! We've had the Play-In Games, but now we get the full rounds. 16 teams remain and there is still hope for all of them. There is more pressure on some teams than others, of course, but that's what we want to see. We want to see who chokes, who succeeds, and who rises to the challenge. There are some great matchups in this opening round of the playoffs. One of them is the Atlanta Hawks taking on the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden today. 

The Hawks are one of the surprises of the league this season. They went from looking like complete garbage to now grabbing the 6th seed. They didn't even need to make the Play-In Tournament. Keep in mind, too, the Hawks kind of had their choice of who to play in the first round and they took the Knicks, so this is the matchup they wanted. Maybe they think they have an edge or they feel like Trae Young, Knick killer, is on the team still. Whatever the case is, they now need to back it up. The Hawks have been surprisingly good lately. Since trading away Young, they had the best Offensive and Defensive rating and the best Net Rating in the league. That's impressive, but that's also the regular season. It doesn't mean all that much. 

Atlanta Hawks PF Jalen Johnson shoots a floater over the Dallas Mavericks at State Farm Arena. (Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports)

The Knicks have all the pressure on them in this series. Last year they opened the playoffs against a young, but hungry Detroit Pistons. The Knicks won 4-1, but it wasn't an easy win. It felt like the Knicks were the worse of the two teams in most games. Then they played the Celtics and Jayson Tatum went down. The Knicks ended up winning. They faced the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals and fell apart. They replaced their coach, added depth, and should've been licking their chops this year at the opportunity to be the best team. I'm not as concerned about them not being the 1 or 2 seed, but I am concerned that they don't pass the eye test on certain days. Maybe they have a second gear that they never did under Thibs. Time to prove it, though. 

The Knicks won the season series, but I'm not going to sit here and tell you that it will be an indicator of the playoff series. I expect this game to go six games, but I wouldn't be shocked by the Knicks winning 4-1. Anything else would be alarming if I was a Knicks fan. The best player in this series is going to be Jalen Brunson. I also think KAT is probably the second best, followed closely by Atlanta's Jalen Johnson. Give me the Knicks to win the opener -4.5 and establish themselves in the series. 

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on X/Twitter: @futureprez2024