State Farm Arena, Atlanta | 7:00 PM ET | Peacock / NBC Sports Network
The single biggest update: Towns (right elbow) participated in Sunday's practice and has been cleared from the injury report entirely ahead of tipoff. The early entry flagged him as QUESTIONABLE — he is now confirmed ACTIVE (ClutchPoints/Yahoo Sports, Apr 6). This dramatically changes the Knicks' frontcourt calculus. Towns tormented Atlanta in December (36 pts / 15 reb), and his return eliminates the biggest projected Atlanta advantage inside.
The Hawks' emergency center signing is formally confirmed. ESPN's Shams Charania broke the deal April 4; the team officially announced the signing on April 6 (Hoops Rumors, Apr 6; ESPN, Apr 6). Bradley (6-10, 28 years old, former Indiana Pacer) averaged 4.0 pts / 2.8 reb in ~10 min/game this season. He provides emergency depth behind Okongwu but is not a difference-maker against a healthy Towns.
The game total has moved materially — from 229.5 (T-12h) down to 226.5 at most books (T-2h). This is a significant 3-point drop, consistent with sharp/book adjustment upon Towns' clearance (he anchors New York's elite defensive rating — 5th in NBA at 110.4 ppg allowed). The spread has held steady.
Hawks (confirmed per SI, Apr 6): G – CJ McCollum | G – Nickeil Alexander-Walker | F – Dyson Daniels | F – Jalen Johnson | C – Onyeka Okongwu (SI Hawks, Apr 6)
Knicks (confirmed): G – Jalen Brunson | G – Josh Hart | F – Mikal Bridges | F – OG Anunoby | C – Karl-Anthony Towns
Atlanta last played Friday, April 3 (141-107 road win at Brooklyn). 2-day rest, returning home. No back-to-back.
Hawks' Advantages:
Hawks' Vulnerabilities (updated with Towns active):
| Snapshot | Spread | ML (ATL / NYK) | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| T-12h (FanDuel, Apr 5 ~11 PM ET) | Hawks -1.5 (-110) | -122 / +104 | 229.5 (-110/-110) |
| T-2h (DraftKings, Apr 6 ~5 PM ET) | Hawks -1.5 (-110) | -118 / +107 | 226.5 (-112/-108) |
Line movement analysis:
Sources: Fox Sports 1280, Apr 6 | SI Hawks game preview, Apr 6 | Hoops Rumors / ESPN Tony Bradley signing, Apr 6 | ClutchPoints/Yahoo Sports odds, Apr 6 | capperspicks.com, Apr 6
Last updated: ~2 hours before tip-off (7:00 PM ET, State Farm Arena)
Karl-Anthony Towns (C): PLAYING. Confirmed available for tonight. After missing the April 3 Bulls game with a right elbow impingement, Towns practiced Sunday and was removed from the injury report entirely. As of today, April 6, TWSN reports "Karl-Anthony Towns is expected to play tonight against the Atlanta Hawks" — he is "not listed on the injury report for Monday" (TWSN, Apr 6). Yardbarker/Jared Schwartz (Apr 5) and Heavy.com (Apr 6) independently corroborate: clean report, no designation.
NOTE — Historical confusion flag: A FanDuel Research listing and an SI.com article both reference "KAT OUT vs Hawks" — but those are from January 3, 2026 (a prior MSG matchup, not tonight). Do not apply those to this game.
Full Knicks Injury Report for April 6: Only Trey Jemison III (G League) is listed as out — irrelevant to rotation (Heavy.com, Apr 6). All NBA-rotation players are available.
Per RotoWire, FantasyData, and SI.com projected lineups (cross-referenced, consistent across all sources):
The Knicks acquired Jose Alvarado (G, traded from the Pelicans at the deadline) and he is a legitimate rotation contributor off the bench. Alvarado has averaged 5.6 pts, 3.0 ast in 11.8 minutes over his last five appearances. His STL% of 2.4% since arriving in New York makes him a matchup weapon against Atlanta's high-usage guards (Alexander-Walker, McCollum). The KAT–Alvarado two-man unit has posted a +16.9 net rating in 252 minutes together; Alvarado–Anunoby lineups are even better at +23.7 over 206 minutes (). He will not start (Brunson is healthy), but expect 12–15 minutes as a high-energy disruptor.
The Knicks are 50-28, 7-3 in their last 10, winners of 2 straight — beating Memphis and then Chicago 136-96 (Apr 3). OG Anunoby led the Bulls blowout with 31 pts on 7/10 from three. New York holds the No. 3 seed in the East. Road record: 21-19 (Posting and Toasting, Apr 6).
Knicks' Advantages:
Knicks' Vulnerabilities:
Knicks (50-28) hold No. 3 seed, 1 game ahead of Cleveland with ~3 games left. This is also the final road game of their regular season. Per the current bracket, New York and Atlanta (No. 5) are projected as a Round 1 matchup — both sides have playoff preview motivation. ESPN's model gives the Knicks a 57% win probability (Posting and Toasting, Apr 6).
| Player | PTS | REB | AST | 3PM |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jalen Brunson | 21.0 | 3.0 | 7.5 | 1.9 |
| OG Anunoby | 18.3 | 5.1 | 2.0 | 3.1 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 18.1 | 11.0 | 2.8 | 1.0 |
| Mikal Bridges | 11.9 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 1.5 |
| Josh Hart | 10.7 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 1.3 |
Multiple searches in the final hours before tip-off returned no reports of travel delays, suspensions, personal matters, or load-management decisions for any Knicks rotation player. The roster is fully healthy. KAT's return is confirmed by three independent sources published today.