Jalen Brunson, Knicks crush Hawks to take series lead: Game 5 takeaways

The New York Knicks started fast and finished strong, cruising to a 126-97 home win over the Atlanta Hawks in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Tuesday night.Jalen Brunson scored a game-high 39 points to go along with eight assists. Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points, 14 rebounds and six assists, and OG Anunoby added 17 points and 10 rebounds for the Knicks. New York led by as many as 32 points after taking the lead for good on a Josh Hart 3-pointer that made it 9-6 with 8:41 remaining in the first quarter. The Knicks led by 13 after the opening quarter, 16 at halftime and by 18 after the third, illustrating just how surgical they were in snatching a 3-2 series lead.Advertisement