What a postseason that Jalen Brunson is having for the New York Knicks.

He scored at least 39 points in each of the last four games of the Knicks series vs the 76ers, guiding New York to the Eastern Conference Semifinals for the second straight season where they will face the Indiana Pacers. Ever since Brunson signed with the Knicks, he has taken over as the their best player and become one of the stars of the league. Most assume that you can’t build a contender around a smaller point guard, but Brunson is showing that it can be done if you put the right pieces around him. Because of his size, Brunson is always going to struggle on defense, but the Knicks have done an excellent job of making moves to ensure that he can be successful in the postseason.

Like Brunson, it does not seem like it was that long ago when Trae Young was the star of the playoffs. He came into Madison Square Garden and torched the Knicks in five games, helped upset the No. 1 seeded Philadelphia 76ers, and then was playing great to start the Eastern Conference Finals vs Milwaukee. He was injured in game three and was not at full strength for the rest of the series. Despite losing the series, Young was showing he could overcome some of his flaws as a player defensively if the right team was put around him.

However, the Hawks have done a poor job of surrounding Young with the proper pieces, unlike the Knicks with Brunson.

After making the run to the Eastern Conference Finals, some (not all) of the moves the Hawks have made have been detrimental to building and making the team better. They chose not to re-sign Delon Wright after the 2022 first round loss to the Miami Heat. Wright was a very good backup point guard and excellent point of attack defender, something Atlanta sorely misses. They could have re-signed him, but chose not too.

The biggest mistake though was making the Dejounte Murray trade. Murray is a very good player in his own right, but he and Young don’t pair well together on the court. Many analysts who cover the league criticized the trade at the time because of the perceived poor fit together and it has proven to be that. The Hawks sent a ton of draft capital for Murray, but the results have been a first round exit vs the Celtics last year (in which Young played phenomenal) and then a loss in the play-in tournament this year. That was the Hawks biggest move to try and add a star piece around Young, but they made the wrong choice. They either should have been more patient or tried to find a better trade target, such as then Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

Later that same summer they traded for Murray, Atlanta chose to trade Kevin Huerter, in what was a salary dump move. Huerter was one of the Hawks better young players and would help this team currently, but they traded him to Sacramento for a protected 1st round pick, Justin Holiday, and Mo Harkless. The Kings pick has not conveyed yet and neither Holiday or Harkless is on the team any longer.

At last year’s trade deadline, Atlanta made a solid move to acquire Saddiq Bey from the Detroit Pistons. While Bey is a solid player, he is not always the best fit alongside Young because of his defense. As a rotational player, Bey fits fine and that is probably his best role.

Last summer, the Hawks traded forward John Collins in what should be considered another salary dump. Atlanta mismanaged Collins’s situation and kept him in trade talks for too long. Collins, who is a really good player, only brought back a 2nd round pick and Rudy Gay.

After drafting Onyeka Okongwu 6th overall in the 2020 draft, they have kept Capela for too long and even extended him. Instead of trading Capela for assets and going with Okongwu at center, Atlanta is now paying two centers and Capela’s trade value has gone down.

Not every move Atlanta has made has been bad, in all fairness. Drafting Jalen Johnson and Okongwu have been good moves and both Kobe Bufkin and Mouhamed Gueye have shown promise.

The Knicks have made seemingly all the right moves around their star point guard to try and maximize their team.

New York made great moves by trading for Josh Hart and OG Anunoby and signing Donte DiVincenzo. Until he was injured recently, the trade for Bojan Bogdanovic had been good for New York and was paying off. Hart, Anunoby, and DiVencenzo are all good perimeter defenders and three point shot makers, while Isaiah Hartenstein and Mitchell Robinson are good lob threats at the rim and good rebounders, not to mention good defenders. They all complement Brunson very well.

The lesson here should be that the Hawks can win with Trae Young if they put the right pieces around him. He and Brunson are similar players with similar vulnerabilites on defense. Surrounding them with the right pieces can be challenging, but it is doable.

Just look at what the Knicks are doing.

Atlanta United winless streak on the road continues as they were held to a tame 0-0 draw at the Soldier Field in Chicago on Saturday. Both teams have met twice since the beginning of the season. In the first meeting on March 31 the Five Stripes ran away 3-0 winners at home but were stifled in the reverse fixture. The game which was played on a knife edge had the fans biting their nails and plucking their hair out for 90 minutes.  

The traveling supporters’ knees wobbled for a few seconds in the 8th minute when Chicago Fire Chris Mueller served up a telling cross to striker Georgios Koutsias who smashed a left footed shot that crashed against the cross bar from close range.  

The ball ballooned in the starry night sky and stayed in play but luckily Brooks Lennon was able to clear the ball away before any Chicago player could collect the rebound. 

Six minutes later Atlanta United Tristan Muyumba right footed shot from the left side of the box went agonizingly close but missed the top right corner. The momentum swung in the Five Stripes favor and in the 23rd minute the home supporters were rattled by Tyler Wolff’s strike that was chalked off by VAR for offside.  Giorgos Giakoumakis, who recently returned from injury, took the initial shot in a half side position before it was turned home by wolff after it was rebounded.   

Both teams continued to trade punches round after round. However, it was Atlanta United again with a golden chance in the 32nd minute, after connecting some passes in their attacking third, the inform Argentine Thiago Almada slipped an audacious pass with Archimedean precision to pick out Brook Lennon who collected it nicely charge forward then whipped in an impeccable cross to Saba Lobjanidze, inside the box. But Chicago Fire’s custodian Chris Brady pulled off a miraculous save full stretch to deny Lobjanidze’s header which was destined for the far corner of the goal. 

 With less than 10 minutes before the end of the first half Chris Mueller came close to breaking the deadlock with two attempts in quick succession but both were handled expertly by Brad Guzan in the 35th and 36th minute. Atlanta United enjoyed the lion’s share of possession and created the best opportunities but at the break they both went into the dressing room the same way they started.  

Atlanta United have not lost to Chicago Fire FC in their last 5 meetings (3W, 2D) and currently two points ahead of them on the league table. The second half started quietly with extraordinarily little to speak of. Atlanta United, who lost their last game at home to Cincinnati FC was desperately pressing for the three points to get back among the top half of the table. In the 76th minute Thiago Almada right footed shot from long range on the left pulled out another sublime saved in the top right corner by goalkeeper Chris Brady. Three minutes later it was all Atlanta United substitute Edwin Mosquera set up Thiago Almada nicely for the opener, but his right-footed shot hit the bar from the center of the box. Before the smoke could clear it was another fearless attacking threat by the Fives Stripes again, this time it was Saba Lobjanidze right footed shot from the left side of the box was saved in the center of the goal after he was set up by Daniel Ríos.  

Daniel Ríos thought he had grabbed the winner in the 85th minute when his well struck header was enroute to the top corner, but it was the excellence of that Brady again to deny the Mexican a goal. Fire hardly had a look in in the second half and should be thankful for the heroics of their goalkeeper who helped to salvage a point from the game.  

Despite the misfortunes of the strikers much credit was given to the young home-grown talent Efraín Morales, who started at center back along with Luis Abram. The newcomer defender did not put a foot wrong on his debut keeping Chicago Fire forwards at bay. They did not fire a shot on target for the entire game and created only one big chance.  

Atlanta United sits 9th on 12 points and return home to play Minesota on Saturday at the Mercedez-Benz Stadium. Minesota has not beaten Atlanta since 2017. While Chicago Fire who is in 12 on 10 points Host New England Revolution a match up where both teams have drawn their last 6 games.  

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