Don’t look now: Knicks playing like best team in Eastern Conference

ATLANTA — For a minute, we were getting exactly what we expected. The Hawks came out quick and they came out sharp. They took a 9-5 lead. They took an 11-9 lead. Four minutes into Game 6, it looked like Atlanta was doing just as it promised it would do: Make the Knicks work. Make the Knicks sweat.

Maybe make the Knicks worry.

Then OG Anunoby drained a 3. For the first time you could hear a few Knicks fans, but they were still outnumbered. This was a last-stand night for the Hawks. This was line-in-the-sand. This was a jutting of jaws and flexing of muscles. What was the line from “Rudy”?

“Nobody comes into our house and pushes us around.”