Tony Bradley believes Hawks need to hit Knicks in…
Tony Bradley hadn’t performed a lot for the Pacers in the postseason at that level last 12 months, and he wouldn’t play in the Eastern Conference finals until the second sport, but he still watched as Tyrese Haliburton’s last-second heave shocked the Knicks by forcing additional time in Game 1.
And Bradley noticed how that draining consequence — the Knicks’ double-digit lead late in regulation evaporated utterly — carried over into the next sport that Indiana received, too.
That’s why Bradley, now a backup middle for the Hawks going through the chance of an expanded function this sequence, is aware of the significance of stealing that first sport to “set the tone,” which Atlanta can have the possibility to do at the Garden when the first-round sequence opens Saturday.
“I think it’s very important to hit them in the mouth first,” Bradley told reporters in Atlanta on Thursday, while including that the Knicks had been “for sure” demoralized by Haliburton’s shot.
Michael Bradley (left) defends Mitchell Robinson during the Knicks’ win over the Hawks on April 6, 2026 in Atlanta. Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
Bradley, a first-round choose by the Lakers in 2017, was waived by the Pacers in January before his contract grew to become assured, and after a pair of 10-day offers with Indiana that adopted, he remained unsigned until the Hawks picked him up earlier this month after an injury to backup middle Jock Landale.
With Landale now sidelined for at least the start of the sequence — the Hawks said Thursday that he’ll be re-evaluated in 1-2 weeks — with a proper ankle sprain, it’s unclear just how sizable of a function Bradley might have against the Knicks.
In three regular-season video games with Atlanta, Bradley averaged 11.3 minutes, 3.7 factors and three rebounds per sport.
For the season, he’s averaging 4.0 factors and 2.8 rebounds across 10.9 minutes per sport.
But Bradley has skilled what it takes to topple the Knicks. And he is aware of the impression that a devastating blow at the Garden, particularly at the start of a sequence, can have.
“Their crowd is, it can be intimidating,” Bradley said. “But it’s fun at the same time.”
Josh Hart didn’t hesitate. Asked what the Knicks can take from their three regular-season matchups with the Hawks, he said, “None.” They didn’t have Karl-Anthony Towns for one of the video games. Hart didn’t play in two of them, either.
“The regular season honestly doesn’t really matter when you look at it in terms of a scope like this,” Hart said, “because you never know — common season, there’s a lot of issues that you’ve. I don’t know if they had been back-to-backs, you recognize, who’s in, who’s out, whatever it’s.
“So, you know, you throw those out the window and you just focus on the team and the personnel that they have right now.”
Knicks head coach Mike Brown, tasked with navigating against the Hawks’ Quin Snyder — who was on Brown’s employees with the Lakers in 2011-12 — over the next two weeks in a teaching chess match, opted to not look too far forward with how he’ll strategy the problem.
“Just one day at a time,” Brown said. “More than anything else, it’s my job to make sure we as a group, starting with me, stay present, and, you know, you go through the hypotheticals, but you can’t dwell on them because if you do, you’ll lose focus at what your strengths are.”
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