Towns recorded 22 points (8-15 FG, 0-4 3Pt, 6-7 FT), 14 rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block over 33 minutes in Sunday's 111-102 loss to the Magic.
Alvarado (ankle) is out for Sunday's game against the Magic, James L. Edwards III of The Athletic reports.
Alexander-Walker closed Saturday's 121-114 loss to the Rockets with 18 points (7-16 FG, 4-12 3Pt, 0-1 FT), five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 32 minutes.
Wiggins posted 16 points (6-13 FG, 4-9 3Pt), five rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal across 28 minutes during Saturday's 121-114 loss to the Rockets.
Daniels ended with 18 points (8-11 FG, 1-1 3Pt, 1-2 FT), eight rebounds, three assists and one steal over 29 minutes before fouling out of Saturday's 121-114 loss to Houston.
Johnson contributed 26 points (8-19 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 8-10 FT), 16 assists, nine rebounds and two steals across 38 minutes in Saturday's 121-114 loss to the Rockets.
Alvarado is questionable for Sunday's game against Orlando due to a left ankle sprain.
Daniels delivered 11 points (5-10 FG, 0-1 3Pt, 1-3 FT), nine rebounds, four assists, seven steals and a block across 23 minutes in Friday's 128-81 win over the Hornets.
Wiggins notched 19 points (7-9 FG, 3-5 3Pt, 2-4 FT), a rebound, an assist and two steals across 22 minutes off the bench in Friday's 128-81 win over the Hornets.
Alexander-Walker posted 14 points (5-12 FG, 2-7 3Pt, 2-2 FT), three rebounds, five assists and two steals across 27 minutes in Friday's 128-81 win over the Hornets.
DraftKings. With Quinn Snyder wanting to target the mismatches, we’re seeing a usage dip for Jalen Johnson by about 3% in the playoffs as CJ McCollum and Nickeil Alexander-Walker have benefitted. Now with OG Anunoby defending Johnson on more than half of his possessions, and the Knicks already stout interior defense, this should continue to be a tough matchup for Johnson to produce. And the Knicks are brutal team to rebound against, especially in the playoffs when possessions are at a premium.
Hawks star Jalen Johnson took just 12 shots in Game 4, scoring 14 points in a 16-point loss. Look for Johnson to be far more aggressive in Game 5 -- akin to Games 1 and 3 when he took 19 shots apiece and averaged 23.5 points. This is not an easy matchup for Johnson, facing Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, but I like him to get there on volume and free throws and an increased willingness to let it fly from deep.
The playoffs have shown us not to over react to a double digit win. That’s heightened with the fact that New York went into Atlanta and had such a strong game four performance. That was with their backs against the wall, as they could ill afford to go down three games to one. Games one through three though the spread was decided in the final minutes. Back Atlanta in what is such a crucial game five.
In the four games this series vs. Atlanta, Knicks forward OG Anunoby has brought in between 8-10 rebounds. In three regular-season games vs. the Hawks, he secured 10, 10 and 5 rebounds. He averages 5.5 rpg on the season but has been far better vs. the Hawks. Anunoby isn’t the exception. Every power forward has found success on the glass vs. Atlanta. The Hawks allow 10.7 rebounds per game to PFs on the season.
Onyeka Okongwu has had success against the Knicks. Over three regular season meetings with them, he averaged 22.0 points. He has averaged 13.8 points in this series, including scoring at least 12 points in three of the four games. In the first two games in New York, he scored 19 and 15 points. After he averaged 15.9 points and shot 50.2% from the field on the road this season, I like Okongwu’s chances of scoring at least 12 points in New York on Tuesday.
DraftKings (+111). Despite only averaging 5.2 boards per game this season, OG Anunoby has recorded 8+ rebounds in each game this series, and it’s not a fluke. Quinn Snyder’s offenses are predicated around hunting mismatches - in this case, Jalen Brunson. What the Knicks have done the last two games to combat this is shift their matchups to allow Josh Hart, who was guarding Jalen Johnson, to be able to hedge more on the perimeter to help Brunson. While Hart will still get his rebounds, this has put OG (now guarding Johnson) in even better position on the weakside to rebound. No matter how you shake it, OG is averaging 8.6 boards in 37.6 minutes on 14.1 chances in this matchup this season (7 games).
OG Anunoby has played at least 37 minutes in all four games against the Hawks. That has helped him average 20.8 points and 8.8 rebounds in the series. He didn’t take a ton of shots the first two games, but with Mikal Bridges disappearing offensively and now playing fewer minutes, Anunoby attempted a combined 32 shots over the last two games. Expect Anunoby to play a lot and have an elevated usage rate again in Game 5. On the rebounding side of things, he has hauled in at least eight boards in all four games. Take this over.
