NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 28 points, Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 of his 25 in the second half and the New York Knicks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 113-102, on Saturday night in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
OG Anunoby added 19 points, and Josh Hart had 10 points and 14 rebounds for the Knicks in their first postseason game under Mike Brown after making four trips in five years under Tom Thibodeau, capped by their first trip to the Eastern Conference finals since 2000 last year.
The No. 3 seed in the East again this season hosts Game 2 on Monday night.
CJ McCollum had 26 points, and Jalen Johnson added 23 for the Hawks, who went 20-6 after the All-Star break to earn the No. 6 seed.
Brunson, who already owns the Knicks’ record with eight 40-point games in the postseason, was almost halfway to another in the first quarter. He made his first six shots and had 19 points as the Knicks led 30-24. McCollum had 12 points in the second as Atlanta cut it to 57-55.
Brunson didn’t do as much in the second half, but Towns took over after he was just 1 for 6 for six points at the break.
The teams got off to sizzling starts, with the Knicks opening 8 for 9 and Atlanta starting 6 for 7 before play eventually slowed to a crawl in the third quarter. McCollum was reviewed for a hostile act and called for a technical foul after kicking his leg up on a jumper into Brunson’s groin area, and the Hawks twice intentionally fouled backup center Mitchell Robinson, and the poor foul shooter went 1 for 4.
By the time the Hawks got going again, it was too late.
With the Knicks up by eight, Towns hit a 3-pointer, and after Gabe Vincent’s basket, Jordan Clarkson had two buckets and Towns had a three-point play and a 3-pointer for a 10-0 burst that made it 106-87 with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining.
Atlanta ran off 11 straight to cut it to 106-98, but Towns scored to restore the double-digit lead.