The so-called “Great Barrier Thief” might be unleashed on to certainly one of basketball’s most storied levels this weekend, as Australian Dyson Daniels storms into an NBA playoff battle towards Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
The Atlanta guard has, like his group, endured a combined season. But each have completed strongly to make the Hawks a darkish horse as the sixth-seed in an Eastern Conference bracket thought of vast open.
Daniels had a style of the playoffs two years in the past with New Orleans, however enters the 2026 post-season as a key protagonist in one of many first spherical’s marquee match-ups.
“It’s going to be fun, it’s going be a lot, the Garden’s going to be popping,” he says. “But these kinds of opportunities you live for and you dream for, and the only way to prepare for it, really, is to just trust your work, trust yourself.”
The Hawks have performed into type since buying and selling All-Star guard Trae Young in January, led by ahead Jalen Johnson and low season acquisition Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Yet maybe no participant on the roster has the potential to flip a playoff collection like Daniels, after his prominence within the group’s 28-win, 15-loss run to shut the season.
The exclamation level was a triple double – the second of his profession – in a win towards the formidable Cavaliers per week in the past. “There was a point in the season where we were struggling a little bit, we were losing games, but we always believed in each other, we trusted the coaches,” Daniels says.
“We played the same way the whole year, just once we started to gel and the chemistry started to come together, it really started clicking, and guys figured out their roles more and were able to flip the script and get wins going.”
The Australian obtained the NBA’s most improved player award final season thanks to his succesful offence and relentless defence, however his contribution has since advanced.
Daniels continues to be the first defender on the opposition’s level of assault most nights, however the addition of the rangy Alexander-Walker has tempered his defensive workload. Though he’s nonetheless second within the league for steals, his charge has dropped from three per recreation to a median of two.
Daniels’ three-point taking pictures accuracy has additionally sagged from final 12 months’s average 34%, to 19% this 12 months. Two months in the past, he had extra air-balls than makes from outdoors the arc.
Those uncooked numbers belie his regular all-round growth, nevertheless. He has develop into a deadly transition participant, thanks to his velocity, rebounding and inside ending, and his half-court smarts give the Hawks a movement they in any other case lack. His two-point area objective proportion is 58% – greater than snipers such as Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard – thanks to a big quantity of finishes on the rim.
Daniels could not have the contact of the league’s finesse shooters, however he has discovered a approach to contribute on offence to complement his defensive strengths. Measuring the Australian’s contribution by his affect on the scoreboard when he’s on the ground in contrast to when he’s off it, he – alongside veteran guard CJ McCollum – is the Hawks’ most vital participant, in accordance to superior stats web site Cleaning the Glass.
The New York Post recognised Daniels’ affect this week when protecting the problem he’ll pose for the Knicks’ flooring normal and main scorer, Brunson, describing him as a “defensive stopper”. No participant has guarded Brunson extra previously two seasons than Daniels.
“He’s a great defender,” Brunson says. “He’s very smart and he’s able to use his wingspan and create havoc on and off the ball. He does a lot of great things for their team and puts them in position to be successful.”
Daniels’ Boomers teammate at the Hawks, centre Jock Landale, is ready to miss the primary spherical collection with an ankle damage. Josh Giddey’s Chicago Bulls missed the post-season, and Josh Green is simply enjoying small minutes for the suddenly-hot Chicago Hornets, a scenario comparable for Matisse Thybulle in Portland. Other Australians are on playoff groups, like Joe Ingles in Minnesota, and Tyrese Proctor in Cleveland, however look to be outdoors the playoff rotation.
It leaves the Bendigo-born guard as the primary Australian attraction within the post-season. Daniels’ father Ricky, brother Dash – who performed within the NBL final season – and prolonged household might be there in New York, alongside a robust expat contingent within the Big Apple. “Hopefully I don’t get too many requests in New York for tickets,” Daniels joked. “But yeah, this is a fun time of the year.”
