The fans have certainly enjoyed being a part of the first-round playoff series between the Knicks and Hawks and that continued in Atlanta on Sunday.
As the Hawks routed the Knicks to a 113-96 Game 4 victory to go up 3-1 in the series, the Atlanta faithful continued to troll Julius Randle, whose struggles have been a focal point of the series thus far.
But on Sunday, the fans stepped it up a notch.
While they berated Randle with “overrated” chants all weekend, late in the fourth quarter the fans started serenading him with a “Playoff Randle” chant.
The 26-year-old All-Star had carried the Knicks for much of the season, but has been a complete non-factor through four playoff games.
Randle is now shooting 27.4 percent from the floor and averaging 16.8 points per game throughout the series.
He did, however, have a decent game on Sunday — scoring a team-high 23 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists but it still was not enough for a win and now it may be too late as the Knicks are on the brink of elimination.
The fan involvement of this series has become much of a focal point as crowds have begun refilling arenas with vaccination rates against COVID-19 up.
Knicks fans relentlessly taunted Hawks star Trae Young in two games in New York, but Young hit the game-winning shot at the end of Game 1 and gave it right back to the fans, shushing them as he celebrated the victory.
There has also been a downside to the fan involvement as well, with one courtside spectator attempting to spit on Trae Young. That fan has been banned indefinitely from games at Madison Square Garden.
The series now goes back to New York and Knicks fans may be feeling a bit deflated as their team took back-to-back double-digit losses on the road and now the season may be coming to an end while the Hawks are one win away from advancing to the next round.
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