A sweet Hawks season ends on a sour note with a 51-point playoff blowout by Knicks

ATLANTA (AP) — Two playoff wins turned out to be the ceiling for an Atlanta Hawks team that underwent a midseason roster overhaul and exceeded expectations to earn its first outright playoff berth since 2021.

Oddsmakers would call that overachieving, but the nearly 18,000 in attendance at State Farm Arena on Thursday night would find it hard to agree as the Knicks led by as many as 61 points in a stunning 140-89 loss, tied for the sixth-largest margin in NBA playoff history.

Just one week after the Hawks completed an improbable comeback to beat the Knicks 109-108 and take a 2-1 series lead, that same Atlanta team looked like a shell of itself. And New York came back with a vengeance to put an exclamation point on a 4-2 series win.

“Give credit to the Knicks, whether it's experience or what you attribute it to, I thought their physicality — they made it hard for us,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said after the game. “Even as the series progressed, you can see what a really good team they are and why they're a contender. We didn't have an answer for that tonight.”

As the series wore on, the Hawks found fewer and fewer answers against a Knicks core of Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart. Quality shots were hard to come by on offense, and defensively, they were caught in a no-win choice between slowing Towns or Brunson.

The Knicks had the advantage in what Atlanta lacked: continuity, with three of their starting five — Brunson, Hart and Bridges — having experience together dating to their college days at Villanova.

The Hawks, meanwhile, relied on a group of newcomers who rallied around a joint cause to lead Atlanta to a pleasantly surprising spring.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker, a new arrival who had his hand in the turnaround, wasn't interested in a participation trophy. Not after he shot 3 for 8 overall, 1 for 4 from 3-point range and had five turnovers.

“Disgusting," Alexander-Walker said, reflecting on his stats. “The way we lost was, I think, at no point in time at all this season were we that bad. But we were tonight."

Alexander-Walker was selected the NBA’s Most Improved Player after more than doubling his scoring average. It marked the second straight year a Hawks player won the award, underscoring the franchise’s commitment to developing young talent.

Next to Alexander-Walker on nearly every stat sheet was first-time NBA All-Star Jalen Johnson, who topped the Hawks in points (22.5), rebounds (10.3) and assists (7.9) in the regular season.

A breakout season ended on a sour note for Johnson, who was largely minimized during Atlanta's playoff run.

“This is a big learning experience, not only for myself, but just everybody in general. And I’m going to take a lot from this and continue to get better from it," the 6-foot-8 forward said. "We’re growing. We’re going to grow from this. We’re going to definitely be better from it.”

Johnson's message is what Snyder hopes for the young group: Feel the sting, but don't let it last too long.

“Right now, you’re trying to process a really tough night, and also keep in the back of your mind that these guys had a really good season,” Snyder said. “It’s easy, you know, for all of us in that locker room to forget that, particularly in the moment because of tonight, but hopefully, you know, we can do both.”

“You can’t help but have it knock you back,” he added. “That said, sometimes the most difficult things to handle in life are the things that you can use to drive you in whatever way, shape or form that comes.”

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) walks off the court during the first half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the New York Knicks Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) and Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) fight in the first half during Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) reacts during the second half of Game 4 in a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series against the New York Knicks Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) looks on after Game 6 in a first-round NBA basketball playoffs series against the New York Knicks Thursday, April 30, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s election results will be announced Saturday after a tense campaign left the main contenders neck and neck with no clear route to victory for either, as voters evaluated three years of conservative rule.

Analysts don't expect a simple majority for either the governing coalition, led by the center-right National party, or the opposition bloc led by center-left Labour. The uncertainty may reflect voter discontent about both major parties as economic problems linger following international shocks that have buffeted New Zealand’s trade-based economy.

There's also growing support for politicians on the ideological flanks, a global trend that has gathered pace in New Zealand later than elsewhere. An unclear result could throw greater power to minor, more populist parties.

The National leader Christopher Luxon faces a tough fight for a second term as prime minister after facing two confidence votes among his own lawmakers this year. Meanwhile, Labour’s Chris Hipkins seeks a second chance at power after a resounding defeat three years ago.

Voting began Oct. 26 with results due for release after polling places close Saturday evening. New Zealand has a single house of government, and there are no states. The central government, elected for three-year terms, holds ultimate sway over the country’s direction.

Neither major party leader has managed to connect strongly with voters, analysts said.

Luxon’s party won the 2023 election on pledges to reverse New Zealand’s post-pandemic economic malaise. While he highlights trade deals signed during his tenure, economic recovery has been slow and unemployment reached an 11-year high in the September quarter.

New Zealand’s stubbornly steep costs of living send thousands of people each year to live in the country's larger, wealthier neighbor Australia.

“You’ve got an incumbent coalition government which is struggling with the same incumbency problems that we’re seeing in our Western democracies around the world,” said Ben Thomas, a former National government press secretary and now the director of a public affairs firm.

However, Hipkins and his Labour party, who are pledging to ease living costs and fund New Zealand’s struggling public healthcare system, haven’t surged in support either. Neither Labour nor National has recorded more than 30% of the vote in polls close to Nov. 7.

“I think there is a broader mistrust in the electorate of both of our traditional two major parties,” said Thomas.

That sentiment has been a windfall for smaller parties that Luxon or Hipkins would rely upon to form a governing coalition.

New Zealanders don’t elect prime ministers. Instead they cast two votes, one for their preferred party and one to select a local representative.

To govern, a coalition of parties must hold more than half of parliament’s seats. The total number of seats is determined by official calculations on election night based on quirks of the country’s vote.

National in 2023 joined with two right-wing parties, populist New Zealand First and libertarian ACT, to form the country’s most conservative modern government. Detractors of Luxon, a business executive who entered parliament in 2020, note his political inexperience compared to the leaders in his power-sharing deal.

In particular, the minor parties sought to repeal legal recognition of Indigenous Māori rights. About 100,000 people marched on Parliament to oppose one of the measures secured by ACT in its governing deal with Luxon.

The power that the smaller parties won from Luxon, said Bernard Hickey, an economic and political analyst, “created this surprise, I think, for many voters that the tail was wagging the dog for the first time. In fact, there were two tails wagging one dog.”

On Hipkins’ side, the left-wing Green party has also experienced strong support. Another traditional Labour coalition partner is Te Pati Māori, an Indigenous rights group.

Hipkins, a career politician, was thrust into the premiership nine months before the 2023 election when his predecessor Jacinda Ardern quit. Labour hasn't surged in popularity since losing that vote.

“Whoever is in government after November 7 … will have to reckon with much more assertive minor parties that want much greater concessions and much more influence than they’ve had in the past,” Thomas said.

Election deadlocks have previously seen the two blocs race to establish a coalition deal by wooing a minor party that holds the balance of power. Recent polls suggest Saturday’s election could yield such a result if The Opportunity Party is elected to Parliament for the first time.

The group's candidates are centrist, socially liberal technocrats who favor a land tax, universal basic income and pro-environment measures. The party’s new leader, 38-year-old Qiulae Wong, who has worked in business but not in politics, has pledged to negotiate first with whichever party wins the most votes if she holds the tiebreaker role.

Luxon has ruled out governing with Opportunity. Analysts say, however, that both major party leaders would likely answer the phone if Wong held the only path to power on election night.

A loss for a single-term government like Luxon’s would be unprecedented in modern times in a country where second terms are all but guaranteed. Voters in the South Pacific nation of 5 million people had before 2023 favored long alternating stretches of National and Labour-led governments.

That was seen as reflecting a largely contented public who believed the country was going in the right direction. The sentiment lingered in New Zealand long after countries such as the United States and Britain began to experience political fracture; but it swung sharply to a negative mood for the first time five years ago in the pandemic era as global tumult increased.

Thomas, the analyst, said that the public is “certainly more polarized than ever.”

Officials aim to release results on election night from 95% of votes cast. A final tally is due on Nov. 27.

Political party billboards are seen in a suburb of Wellington, New Zealand, Saturday, Oct. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)

The Opportunity Party leader Qiulae Wong poses for a portrait outside Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, Friday, Oct. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)

Labour Party leader Chris Hipkins shakes hands with a supporter at a shopping center while campaigning for election in Waikanae, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)

People place their voting papers in ballot boxes at a voting booth in Wellington, New Zealand, Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Charlotte Graham-McLay)