The Atlanta Hawks have all the momentum in their series against the New York Knicks. They're not only up 2-1, but they have the chance to push the Knicks' backs against the wall that the Boston Celtics never did last year. Oh, and it's fair to say that a lot of that has to do with trading Kristaps Porzingis while they can.
Part of why the Knicks beat the Celtics last year was because of how horrible of a matchup they were for Porzingis. Now, to be fair, it was because Porzingis was clearly still sick, hence, it hurt his ability to really make an impact.
However, that therein lied the problem with Porzingis was his lack of dependability that was there when he first arrived in Boston which only got worse in his second season. Boston desperately tried to get him going, even when it was clear it wouldn't happen.
As a result, Mitchell Robinson tossed him like a rag doll, which gave the Knicks plenty of opportunities to make the Celtics pay. It made sense for Boston to try to get him out of the funk, but it should have been clear after the first two games they squandered that Porzingis was never going to get better.
The Hawks acquired Porzingis believing that they could avoid this issue, but it didn't take long for them to realize he wasn't worth the risk. This specific series has proven that they were right to get rid of him, just as Boston was.
It's also who they acquired in exchange for Porzingis that's paid dividends
Porzingis was a flop for the Hawks, but it's not like it was the end of the world for them. In fact, again, it probably would have been the end of their world because history has a tendency to repeat itself, so facing the exact same Knicks team with an even less dependable Porzingis was a recipe for disaster.
However, Porzingis no longer being on the team is a plus for them, and making it even better is that acquiring Jonathan Kuminga specifically has really flipped this series. His presence has played a major role in the Hawks' control of the series.
In fact, he's been a top-two player for the Hawks in this series (the only player who's played better is CJ McCollum), and his two-way play has been a major problem for the Knicks. It's even fair to say this could be a 3-0 series in favor of New York had it not been for him.
That would not have been possible had the Porzingis trade never happened. The Celtics might not get the revenge they hoped to after what went down last season, but they will gladly settle for the Knicks being upset in the first round.
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