Tony Bradley said the Hawks need to hit the Knicks in the mouth first when the first-round series opens Saturday at the Garden, and he called stealing Game 1 vital to setting the tone.
“I think it’s very important to hit them in the mouth first,” Bradley said Thursday in Atlanta. “For sure.” He said New York’s building can be hard to play in, adding, “Their crowd is, it can be intimidating. But it’s fun at the same time.”
The Hawks will open their first-round series against the Knicks on Saturday with Jock Landale set to miss the start after the team said Thursday he will be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks because of a right ankle sprain. Bradley joined Atlanta earlier this month after Landale was hurt, and his role now matters more because the backup rotation is unsettled before the series begins.
Bradley has been a low-minute piece all season, but Atlanta has leaned on him for interior minutes since his arrival. In three regular-season games with the Hawks, he averaged 11.3 minutes, 3.7 points and three rebounds per game. For the season, he averaged 4.0 points and 2.8 rebounds across 10.9 minutes per game.
The urgency around Game 1 is not just coming from Atlanta. Josh Hart said the Knicks can take “None” from their three regular-season matchups with the Hawks, brushing aside the idea that those games carry much weight now. “The regular season honestly doesn’t really matter when you look at it in terms of a scope like this,” Hart said, a reminder that the series starts fresh even if the talk does not.
Bradley knows how quickly a playoff opener can tilt the rest of a matchup. Last year, while he was on the margins of Indiana’s postseason rotation, he watched Tyrese Haliburton’s last-second heave force overtime in Game 1 against the Knicks and saw the Pacers win the next game too. The sequence stayed with him because a single night can change the rhythm of a series before either side settles in.
That is why Bradley framed Saturday as more than just the first game. The Hawks are trying to walk into Madison Square Garden, land the first punch and leave with momentum, while the Knicks are saying the standings, the regular season and whatever happened before now are beside the point. The team that owns the first stretch of Game 1 will likely own the conversation after it ends.
Mike Brown, asked about the challenge, said, “Just one day at a time” and to “stay present,” a simple answer that fits a series this tight. Bradley’s message was less measured and more revealing: in a building that can rattle visitors, the Hawks want to be the side that makes the noise first.
