The earlier time Trae Younger confronted the Knicks in an elimination sport, practically 5 years in the past, he buried the house group at MSG and completed the night with a Broadway Bow.
Hawks-Knicks had the makings of an intense rivalry again then, with a pair of youthful, rising franchises.
If any group held the benefit in 2021, it was the Hawks due to Younger and the way in which they dealt with the Knicks in 5 video games of the opening spherical.
However the groups subsequently went in several instructions.
The Knicks’ progress wasn’t precisely linear — there was that anomalous 2021-22 marketing campaign — however they actually rose over the subsequent three seasons.
The Hawks, however, largely simply fell.
Symbolic of these instructions for the reason that 2021 playoffs, the Knicks have been heavy favorites in Wednesday’s NBA Cup quarters and clearly snug going through the Hawks.
New York had a chance to chase the East’s high seed of the NBA Cup — which might’ve meant a showdown towards the Celtics within the quarterfinals as a substitute — however eased up down the stretch of the ultimate group stage sport to take care of the purpose differential for a Hawks matchup.
Within the Magic sport, the Knicks have been up by 31 with six minutes remaining and received by solely 15. A victory by 37 or extra would’ve meant a quarterfinal towards the Celtics.
Whereas Tom Thibodeau performed it coy, Josh Hart mainly acknowledged the Knicks have been conscious of the implications as their lead dissolved.
It was a wise transfer for quite a lot of causes, together with that the NBA Cup doubles as regular-season video games. Who would need an additional sport towards Boston on the schedule?
So the Knicks confronted the Hawks and Younger, who had been shedding a lot for the reason that 2021 playoffs that his coach Quin Snyder needed to go away the previous within the rearview mirror.
“One of the big things for us is we really are moving forward,” Snyder mentioned. “And part of it is Trae’s challenge this year is to maintain and continue to do a lot of things that make him the player he is, but also to evolve.”
Snyder’s obscure define of the “evolution” consists of higher management from Younger and specializing in ball motion. However the Hawks have been only one sport above .500 heading into Wednesday.
The Knicks have been 15-9 and have the next ceiling but in addition don’t resemble the group that confronted the Hawks in 2021.
In reality, they’ve zero gamers on the roster who participated in that sequence.
“And that’s sort of the nature of the league,” Tom Thibodeau mentioned. “There’s fixed change and it’s how rapidly are you able to adapt? It could possibly be harm, it could possibly be free company. There’s so many alternative variables that go into it. And even typically you come again with the identical group and also you don’t play the identical approach.
“I think that’s the challenge every year — you start over. The league itself, there’s constant change. It’s how quickly you can adapt.”
The Hawks have a number of gamers left from the 2021 sequence, together with Younger, Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, DeAndre Hunter and Onyeka Okongwu.
However they understood there was no carryover.
“Obviously, it’s a great souvenir (that we eliminated the Knicks at MSG),” Capela mentioned. “But it’s a whole new team and we’re aware of that. They don’t even have one player left. That’s crazy.”
