Starting Lineups Announced For Tonight's Hawks-Knicks Game One Matchup

Tipoff time is getting closer at Madison Square Garden.

The third playoff game of the day, the Knicks and the Hawks are hoping to gain an early advantage in this series, which is expected to be one of the most competitive in the entire first round.

With the start of the game getting closer, both teams have announced their starting lineups for game one:

Hawks

G- CJ McCollum

G- Nickeil Alexander-Walker

F- Dyson Daniels

F- Jalen Johnson

C- Onyeka Okongwu

Knicks

G- Jalen Brunson

G- Josh Hart

F- Mikal Bridges

F- OG Anunoby

C- Karl-Anthony Towns

Who steps up?

Two players that I am keeping a close eye on today are Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Dyson Daniels. Alexander-Walker had 36 points in the last matchup against New York and is the heavy favorite to win the NBA's most improved player award. Daniels helps run the offense and do a lot of little things, but most importantly, he is one of the elite perimeter defenders in the NBA and will spend a lot of time guarding Jalen Brunson today.

Alexander-Walker enters his fifth straight postseason off a career-best season, tallying career highs in points (20.8), assists (3.7), rebounds (3.4), and steals (1.3), increasing his scoring from the 2024-25 season (9.4 ppg) by +11.4 points. A Most Improved candidate, his +11.4 ppg increase is the third-highest amongst all qualified players in the last 25 seasons, per Elias Sports, trailing only teammate CJ McCollum (2014-15 to 2015-16, +13.9 ppg) and Zach Randolph (2002-03 to 2003-04, +11.6 ppg). Both McCollum and Randolph were named the NBA's Most Improved Player.

Dyson Daniels finished the 2025-26 regular season averaging 11.9 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.96 steals in 33.2 minutes. Daniels averaged a career-high .517 FG%, the fourth-best FG% amongst all guards in the NBA this past season and the fifth-highest FG% by a Hawks guard in a single season in club history. Defensively, Daniels led the NBA in multi-steal games (51), while ranking second in steals per game and loose balls recovered. Since the All-Star break, the Great Barrier Thief owns a defensive rating of 103.0, the second-best defensive rating by any player averaging at least 30.0 minutes per game over that time.

The Hawks are the underdogs today. but if they can get a win on the road in game one, they can reset the tone of the series. Will they get it done?