Brunson and Towns lead the Knicks past the Hawks 113-102 in Game 1 of their series

NEW YORK (AP) — 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 18 points and Josh Hart had 11 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. "We know that they're going to be ready for Game 2," Brunson said. "So quick turnaround and extreme focus." 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. 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. "We did a great job as a team just fighting and continuing to find ways to score and also impact winning," Towns said. The teams got off to sizzling starts, with the Knicks opening 8 for 9 and Atlanta 6 for 7, before play 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 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. "I like the way we came back at the end of the game," Hawks coach Quin Snyder said. "They were resilient in that situation, it was just too little, too late."