By Eddie Castro

For the fifth time in the past six seasons, Knicks fans can proudly say their team is officially playoff-bound. The team officially wrapped up their 2025-26 campaign this past Sunday marking a win-loss record of 53-29 and securing the No.3 seed in the Eastern Conference. Not too bad for Mike Brown’s first year as Head Coach. As I mentioned in last week’s column, the Knicks have had a Rollercoaster of a season with highs and lows and fans have had mixed emotions dancing around their television screen and biting what’s left of their nails in those tough too-close-to-call contests the team has had.

Towards the last few games, New York has shown great potential to be one of the most dangerous teams in the East if their style of play happens to click all at once. As good as the team finished up the season, there are still some question marks on just what Knicks team will show up in the playoffs. The hope is that this Knicks team, which had many people predicting an NBA Finals appearance before the season even started, is the team that shows up starting this Saturday against the Atlanta Hawks.

With New York locking the 3rd seed, they will secure the home court advantage with the first two games taking place at Madison Square Garden as well as Games 5 and 7 (if necessary). It is important to mention that the Hawks are not your typical walk all over 6th seed. The team in its entirety made quite the turnaround in the second half of the season. A team that was positioned for the play-in and four games under .500 became a team that was hotter than a fox in a forest fire winning 20 of their last 26 games completing their season at 46-36. Let’s also keep in mind the team traded their once-upon franchise player Trae Young due to the emergence of 24-year-old Jalen Johnson.

If you tuned in to their previous meeting last week, it ended up being one of the most exciting games of the year. It was a back-and-forth affair with a playoff atmosphere at State Farm Arena (Atlanta). In the end, Knicks Superstar Jalen Brunson came up in the clutch and carried the team to victory. The Knicks won two of the three regular-season meetings against the Hawks, both victories were by three points.

To make a deep run in this year’s playoffs, the Knicks will need a full effort from players not named Brunson. Look for the X-factors in this series to be none other than Karl Anthony-Towns and Mitchell Robinson. The Hawks’ tallest player on the roster is Mohammed Gueye at 6’11, while both Robinson and Town stand at 7-feet tall. Getting Towns his touches early in the game will be the best tone-setter for New York, especially in the pick-and-roll play with Brunson.

It is likely that Brunson will be opposed by Dyson Daniels, who is not only the Hawks’ best defender, but one of the best overall defensive players in the NBA. We’ve all seen many opposing teams put bigger bodies on Brunson on defense who stands at 6”2. Look for Daniels (6”7) to be the main guy guarding Brunson. Getting Towns the ball will free up Brunson a bit. We all know Robinson’s impact will be on the defensive side of the ball. With this Hawks team being slightly undersized, it should be a clinic of offensive boards for him.

Then you have capable take-over guys like OG Anunoby and dare I say Mikail Bridges? Anunoby is without a doubt the team’s third-best option in scoring and one of, if not, New York’s best defender. Despite another “Iron Man” season by Bridges, who now holds a streak of 638 consecutive games played, he has had a down year for the most part. However, if Bridges can provide that defensive spark he did in last year’s playoffs along with some clutch scoring, it will be a recipe for success for the Knicks to come out on top. Game 1 is this Saturday at 6:00 P.M. at Madison Square Garden.

Sports Notes: (WNBA) The New York Liberty made a major splash in free agency signing three-time All-Star Satou Sabally to a multi-year contract. Sabally known as one of the game’s most versatile players, led the Phoenix Mercury to the WNBA Finals Last year now joins a star-studded projected starting lineup that includes Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Jonquel Jones. Library fans will get their first look at Sabally in her new threads when the Liberty open up their season on May 8 against the Connecticut Sun. (Baseball) The Yankees who have struggled of late will look to place a positive note, wrapping up a four-game set tonight against the Los Angeles Angels. The Mets head to Wrigley Field to battle the Chicago Cubs starting tomorrow (Friday April 17).