NBA Playoffs | Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks: Game 5
Written by: Varun Sharma
Published: Tue Apr 28, 2026, 4:03 pm ET
Read Time: 6 minutes
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The Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks are coming back to Madison Square Garden, tied at two games a piece. This Eastern Conference quarterfinal just turned into a 'best of three' and I couldn't be more excited.
Let's jump right into this huge, Game 5.
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Game Information
Matchup Information
- Location: Madison Square Garden; New York, New York
- Date: Tuesday, April 28th, 2026
- Tipoff: 8:10 PM EST
Postseason Performers
- C.J. McCollum (ATL): 34.1 MPG | 24.5 PPG | 3.0 RPG | 2.8 APG
- Jalen Brunson (NYK): 36.4 MPG | 25.5 PPG | 2.5 RPG | 5.3 APG
Betting Odds
Odds via Lucky Rebel, an industry leader in the sports betting world.
Analysis & Breakdown
Mayhem in Manhattan
The New York Knicks entered this season fresh off their most successful season of the last decade. The team was two wins away from reaching the NBA Finals, they had two prolific scorers that both averaged over 20 points per game and they had depth.
Last year the Knicks played 18 playoff games, they had four of their five starters averaging at least 16 points per game and all five starters averaged double digit points per game. The Knicks proceeded to then fire Head Coach Tom Thibodeou, hire Mike Brown and things just haven't looked as good since.
This year the Knicks have Brunson, Towns and OG Anunoby all averaging 20+ points per game, but nearly everyone else is struggling. Mikal Bridges is averaging just 7.3 points per game and both him and Josh Hart are shooting close to 40% and under 30% from the perimeter.
Whether it's the system or just regression, Bridges and Hart have both struggled offensively and it's frustrating because of their ability on the defensive side. Speaking of defense, Brunson's been terrible in this series and the Hawks continue to attack him.
Brunson's averaging 36.5 minutes per game in this series and has played a majority of all four games. However, in the 42 minutes of game time he's been off the court, the Knicks net rating jumps to +18.7. The bigger surprise to me was the team's offensive rating without Brunson on the floor. It jumps to 122.2 with Brunson on the bench and their defensive rating drops as low as 103.5.
It's a small four game sample, but it points at a consistent theme. Brunson just doesn't lead this offense to the best of it's capabilities.
ATLiens
The Hawks had a chance to go up 3-1, on their home floor and take a significant stranglehold on this series. Instead, the team came out flat, failed to score 100 points and just looked bad from tip off to the final buzzer.
Atlanta's biggest lead in Game 4 was just one singular point and it came early in the first quarter. Half way through the first, New York took control and never looked back.
The Hawks leading scorer in the postseason this year has been C.J. McCollum and he's been doing it effortlessly. He's averaging 24.5 points per game, shooting over 50% from the field, but pretty poorly from the perimeter and free throw line.
The bigger issue for Atlanta has been the two guys that lead this team in scoring during the regular season; Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Both guys averaged over 20 points per game this year, both shot the ball fairly well and both have looked lacklustre in this series.
Johnson's averaging 19.5 points per game but he's shooting percentages have dropped to 41%. With Alexander-Walker it's been even worse. He's averaging just 13.8 points per game and shooting even worse (34.6%). What's even more frustrating is that Naw's shooting 43.3% from three but can't get anything else to fall.
With this now being a best of three series, Atlanta can't move on without a win on the road. They've already got one in this series, can they do it again?
Tuesday Night's Best Bets
Miles McBride o8.5 Points (-111) | Lucky Rebel
Yes, you read that correctly; we're betting Miles McBride. McBride's playing 22.0 minutes per game so far in this series, averaging 8.0 points per game and shooting the ball terribly (36.7%). McBride played just 33 minutes in Games 1 and 2, recording 6 total points across the two game and going 2/9 from the field.
In Games 3 and 4, that completely switched. McBride played 54 minutes, scored 26 points and shot a combined 9/21 from the field (44%). Sixteen of his 21 shots in the the last two games have come from beyond the arc and that's exactly where New York has had the advantage.
Now let's talk about McBride's impact on the floor. In 81 minutes with McBride on the court, New York's offensive rating jumps to 117.5, but more importantly their defensive rating drops to 96.9.
Now let's add Towns to the mix. In 36 minutes together on the court, the McBride/Towns pairing has an offensive rating of 130.8 and the team's defensive rating drops to 74.0. Even the trio of Brunson, McBride and Towns has been great.
The three have played 33 minutes together in this series, recorded an offensive rating of 124.3 and defensive rating of 76.9. McBride's minutes have gone up in back to back games and it's no surprise as to why. He's capable of impacting the game in more ways than one and if he catches fire from deep; opponents in for a long night.
Onyeka Okongwu o1.5 3s (-120) | Lucky Rebel
The Knicks have just been allowing Onkongwu to let it fly from the perimeter and after two big games in New York, he's gone just 2/7 in the last two games of this series. Okongwu is a 38% 3-point shooter on the year, he's averaging 1.9 3s per game and took 5.2 3-point attempts per game.
Okongwu is more than comfortable shooting from the perimeter and this is a line he's cleared in five of his last seven games against New York.
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