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FanDuel. With Onyeka Okongwu active tonight, this line reads too high for Okongwu, who likely only sees 20-24 minutes off the Hawks bench. Thriving more as a slasher, Kuminga will find it difficult to score around the basket against the Knicks interior defense.
The Atlanta Hawks showed their youth in Saturday’s game one against the Knicks. New York used one strong stretch to build a double digit lead that proved to much for the Hawks to overcome. Even with that the spread stayed flat from game one, as Atlanta does have the personnel to match the Knicks. They also did a great job defending Jalen Brunson after the first quarter. All three regular season games were down to the wire, look for that here in game two. Back the Hawks.

Towns averaged 32 P/R on the season. Oddsmakers have this a little lower, probably because it’s the postseason and intensity goes up. But he has a history of toying with Hawks C Onyeka Okongwu. KAT registered a P/R total of 33 in Game 1. In the previous four matchups between the two, Towns’ totals are 33, 51, 41 and 54. The Hawks’ frontcourt depth isn’t there with Jock Landale out, and KAT is the one to take advantage.
Onyeka Okongwu (knee inflammation) participated in Monday's shootaround, a good sign for his availability in this critical Game 2. The Hawks desperately need him as they remain without Jock Landale. While Atlanta isn't going to slow down Karl-Anthony Towns, the Hawks can play faster than they did in Game 1. That should lead to more more production from their top two scorers, Jalen Johnson and Nickiel Alexander-Walker; they shot a combined 14 for 36 in Game 1. After they got outscored by 13 points at the foul line in the series opener, look for the Hawks to be much more aggressive Monday.

FanDuel (-122). With Mike Brown at the helm for the Knicks, Josh Hart saw the most precipitous decline in minutes this season, from 37 per game to 30. However, in game 1, Hart was on the floor for 37 minutes, outpacing everyone except for OG Anunoby. It’s evident Brown is riding his starters, as most coaches do in the playoffs - and Hart averaged 26 PRA per 34 minutes this season in games that the Knicks were at full strength. The Hawks are plus matchup for Hart schematically as they play fast and funnel action to the rim. Defensively, I anticipate Atlanta pressing Jalen Brunson to get the ball out his hands, which should set Hart up as the secondary playmaker. Playable to over 23.5.

The Hawks only had one member of their bench log at least 20 minutes in Game 1. They gave their starters big minutes, including having Dyson Daniels play 36 minutes. Although he only scored four points, he had nine rebounds and 11 assists. In three regular season games against the Knicks, Daniels posted 17, 14 and 15 combined rebounds and assists. With the expectation that he plays around 35 minutes in Game 2, I like this over.

CJ McCollum was busy in Game 1, shooting 11-for-20 from the field. He finished with 26 points and made four of his nine attempts from behind the arc. For his career, he has shot 39.5% from three. He had a 26.9% usage rate with the Hawks during the regular season, which ranked second on the team behind Jalen Johnson (27.0%). With plenty of minutes and shot attempts likely coming his way again in Game 2, McCollum is in a favorable spot to score at least 18 points.
Team Injuries






