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.”

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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)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican senators who had threatened to block acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's confirmation to lead the Justice Department said Monday that they will support his nomination, ending an impasse over plans to create a fund to compensate allies of President Donald Trump.

The endorsement from Republican Sens. John Cornyn and Thom Tillis paves the way for the Senate Judiciary Committee to advance Blanche's nomination on Tuesday following a deal to formally rescind the $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund" created as part of the settlement of Trump's lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service.

Cornyn and Tillis had refused to back Blanche's bid for the permanent post without written confirmation killing the fund meant to compensate people who believe they were unfairly prosecuted by the Justice Department. The order, issued by Blanche late Sunday, came after days of negotiations between the Justice Department and the Republican senators who are leaving Capitol Hill when their terms end in January.

“We want to express our gratitude to Mr. Blanche and his staff for working with us on this, and we look forward to voting to advance his nomination out of the Senate Judiciary Committee soon," Cornyn, of Texas, and Tillis, of North Carolina, said in a statement.

Blanche has repeatedly said that the Justice Department was scrapping the fund, which sparked bipartisan outcry over the possibility that violent rioters who attacked police at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, could be considered for payments. But skeptical lawmakers had said they were concerned that could be revived without a commitment in writing, especially because Trump has continued to defend the idea.

Blanche wrote in his order late Sunday that the department was confirming "beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Since the settlement of the president's lawsuit against the IRS was announced, “No Members were appointed; no funds were transferred; no process for receiving claims was established; no claims were paid,” the order says. “This order establishes, beyond any doubt, that there is no Fund.”

Cornyn and Tillis had also pressed the Justice Department to limit the scope of a separate piece of the settlement that provided broad immunity for Trump and members of his family from tax audits. Under the deal, the Justice Department clarified in writing that the tax audit immunity agreement “applies by its terms only retroactively” to claims open at the time of the settlement and does not protect the president from examination of future tax filings.

Blanche’s nomination was thrown into doubt last week after the Judiciary Committee postponed a vote that had been scheduled for Thursday morning as Tillis and Cornyn said they needed more from the administration before they could provide the necessary votes.

After the Thursday vote was delayed, Trump said in a social media post that he might pull Blanche’s nomination and resubmit it after Cornyn and Tillis leave office next year. And on Saturday the president threatened to push forward with the fund if the two Republicans blocked Blanche's nomination.

On Sunday evening, Trump said that people who had faced charges from the Jan. 6, attack on the Capitol and could have benefited from the fund had “their lives destroyed.”

“This would be a reimbursement for the pain that they suffered,” Trump said. “A lot of people like it.”

Blanche, who served as Trump’s defense lawyer in his criminal cases, entered the Justice Department last year as deputy attorney general. He was elevated to the top post after Pam Bondi was fired in April by Trump, who was frustrated by her failure to successfully prosecute his political enemies.

Though Blanche insisted he wasn’t auditioning for the permanent job, he has moved quickly since taking the reins of the department to promote the Trump administration’s agenda and accelerate investigations into the president’s perceived foes.

FILE - Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche appears before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)