There were about seven minutes left in the third quarter, the result still very much in the balance.
Jalen Johnson, the Hawks All-Star, dribbled into an isolation on the perimeter against Josh Hart. Johnson had the space to take on his smaller defender, moving a step back to create momentum.
But Johnson didn’t get past his third dribble. Hart stripped him clean — his third steal of Saturday’s 113-102 Knicks victory — and it became the best example of an important Game 1 development:
Hart not only held his own defending Atlanta’s top player, he bullied him into ineffectiveness. There were other examples, too, like two minutes before halftime, when Johnson tried to use his size advantage to back down Hart but couldn’t get farther than the foul line before attempting a turnaround brick.
