Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Prediction, Betting Pick & Latest NBA Playoff Game 2 Odds
The Knicks took Game 1 behind Jalen Brunson's franchise-record first quarter and a Karl-Anthony Towns takeover after halftime, and now the Hawks have less than 48 hours to solve a defense that bottled up their second-half offense. Atlanta's 20-6 post-All-Star run got them here, but the 113-102 opener exposed a gap between a team that peaks in April and a team that knows what May feels like. Let's check out the odds and best bet for this Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks prediction on April 20.
OC Staff - April 20, 2026, 6:30 PM EDT
3 Minute ReadAtlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Prediction: New York Has the Answer for Atlanta's Offense and Two Days Isn't Long Enough to Find a New Question
Atlanta's offense did what it does best in the first half of Game 1, clawing back a 16-point deficit all the way down to two by the break. The second half was a completely different movie. Jalen Johnson lacked halfcourt juice, Nickeil Alexander-Walker went 6-for-17 from the floor, and the bench outside of Okongwu got rolled. When Atlanta has to generate offense from set plays instead of transition, this roster does not have enough counterpunches.
The spread opened at Knicks -6.5 and has since moved down to -5.5, with the total sitting at 216.5. Line movement toward the Hawks signals some public confidence in an adjustment game, but the Knicks went 30-10 at MSG this season and just watched their best player set a franchise playoff record in the same building. The real question is whether Quin Snyder can fix what Mike Brown's crew broke. Quick turnarounds historically favor the team that dictated the terms the first time around.
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Recent Results
The Knicks closed the regular season 12-4 over their final 16 games and walked into the playoffs looking like the version of themselves everyone projected back in October. Brunson poured in 19 points in the first quarter of Game 1 alone, setting a Knicks franchise record for first-quarter playoff points. Towns was 1-for-6 at halftime and then took over after the break. He finished with 25 points against a Hawks frontcourt that simply ran out of answers.
Atlanta arrived in New York as one of the NBA's hottest teams, going 20-6 after the All-Star break to leap from the 10-seed into the 6. The Hawks led the league in pace-and-space vibes but ran into a 55-minute defensive clinic across the second and fourth quarters. CJ McCollum scored 17 points in the first half and looked like Atlanta's X-factor. He finished with just nine more the rest of the way and Atlanta's bench beyond Okongwu produced next to nothing.
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Head to Head
New York took the regular season series 2-1, and bizarrely, the road team won all three games. The Knicks edged the Hawks 128-125 in Atlanta on December 27 behind a massive night from Towns. Atlanta flipped it a week later with a 111-99 win at MSG on January 2 while KAT sat out sick. The most recent regular season matchup went to New York 108-105 on April 6 after CJ McCollum's halfcourt heave at the buzzer was ruled no good on review.
With Game 1 now in the books, the Knicks own four wins in the last five meetings dating back to December. Brunson has averaged 29.3 points per game across that stretch, which is a tidy little number to keep in the back pocket before reading the Best Bet section. The Hawks have not won at Madison Square Garden since January 2, and that win came without Towns in the lineup.
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Date, Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: Monday, April 20, 2026
- Time: 8:00 PM ET
- How to Watch: Peacock, NBC, NBA League Pass
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Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Odds
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Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Team News
The Knicks are as healthy as any team still playing basketball. OG Anunoby rolled his ankle in Game 1 during a drive but checked back in after a short break and finished the night on 66% shooting, which tells you everything about how much the ankle actually affected him. "It's OK, I just rolled it; it just happened," Anunoby told the New York Post after the win. Brunson, Towns, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart, and Mitchell Robinson are all locked in, and the only player on the injury report for New York is Trey Jemison III with a G League designation.
Atlanta's only meaningful absence is Jock Landale, which does not move any rotation needles. Jalen Johnson put up 23 points in Game 1 while logging heavy minutes, but local reporting graded his performance as a B-minus because he lacked halfcourt juice when Atlanta needed a hub. Dyson Daniels was the Hawks' brightest spot, dishing out 11 assists while playing elite perimeter defense on Brunson. Even that effort could not stop the Knicks guard from scoring 19 in the first quarter. The backup center spot with Mo Gueye remains the structural problem in this series, and Quin Snyder has 48 hours to figure out a workaround that Mike Brown cannot also solve.
Prediction: New York Knicks 114, Atlanta Hawks 106
Atlanta's pace and early-offense creation are real, but the Knicks have the personnel to grind them into halfcourt sets they do not want to run. Mike Brown's group shot 48% from three in Game 1, and while that number will regress toward the mean, the structural advantages for New York hold. The Knicks have three legitimate defensive options to throw at Johnson between Hart, Bridges, and Anunoby. This is a confident team with the blueprint already built.
Atlanta will come out sharper, and McCollum will find his stroke before the Hawks fall into a 2-0 hole, but that is a different proposition than winning the game. Towns versus Okongwu in the post remains a matchup advantage that only gets uglier as the game tightens. Brunson has already proven he owns the first quarter against this defense. The second half is where playoff experience shows up, and only one of these teams has any.
Atlanta Hawks vs. New York Knicks Best Bet
- Knicks -5.5 (-110) Click here to get the best odds at BetMGM Sportsbook
- Jalen Brunson Over 27.5 Points (-110) Click here to get the best odds at Caesars Sportsbook
Our FairPlay AI likes the Knicks -5.5. The Knicks own a 30-10 home record and have now beaten Atlanta in four of their last five meetings counting Game 1. The line actually moved from -6.5 down to -5.5, which means you are laying fewer points on a team that hit five straight ATS covers heading into the playoffs. Atlanta's bench could not match New York's rotation in Game 1, and those gaps get magnified in a quick turnaround when nothing structurally changes between games. Lay the number before the sharp money catches back up.
It also points to value on Jalen Brunson Over 27.5 Points. Brunson has averaged 29.3 points per game across four meetings with the Hawks this season. He backed it up by dropping 28 in Game 1 while the Knicks still won comfortably. Dyson Daniels is Atlanta's best perimeter defender, and even with him locked in all night, Brunson still torched the Hawks for 19 in the first quarter alone. The quick turnaround favors a star who knows exactly where this defense is vulnerable, and the number has not moved to reflect how central he will be to the Knicks' Game 2 plan. Lock in the Over before the line adjusts to what his workload actually requires Monday night.
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