Great Barrier Thief: Dyson Daniels emerges as key to unlocking Atlanta Hawks' NBA playoff hopes
The so-called “Great Barrier Thief” will be unleashed on to one of basketball’s most storied stages this weekend, as Australian Dyson Daniels storms into an NBA playoff battle against Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden,The Atlanta guard has, like his team, endured a mixed season,But both have finished strongly to make the Hawks a dark horse as the sixth-seed in an Eastern Conference bracket considered wide open,Daniels had a taste of the playoffs two years ago with New Orleans, but enters the 2026 post-season as a key protagonist in one of the first round’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 played into form since trading All-Star guard Trae Young in January, led by forward Jalen Johnson and off-season acquisition Nickeil Alexander-Walker.Yet perhaps no player on the roster has the potential to turn a playoff series like Daniels, after his prominence in the team’s 28-win, 15-loss run to close the season.The exclamation point was a triple double – the second of his career – in a win against the formidable Cavaliers a week ago.“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 received the NBA’s most improved player award last season thanks to his capable offence and relentless defence, but his contribution has since evolved.Daniels is still the primary defender on the opposition’s point of attack most nights, but the addition of the rangy Alexander-Walker has tempered his defensive workload.Though he is still second in the league for steals, his rate has dropped from three per game to an average of two.Daniels’ three-point shooting accuracy has also sagged from last year’s moderate 34%, to 19% this year.
Two months ago, he had more air-balls than makes from outside the arc.Those raw numbers belie his steady all-round development, however.He has become a lethal transition player, thanks to his speed, rebounding and inside finishing, and his half-court smarts give the Hawks a flow they otherwise lack.His two-point field goal percentage is 58% – higher than snipers such as Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard – thanks to a large volume of finishes at the rim.Daniels may not have the touch of the league’s finesse shooters, but he has found a way to contribute on offence to complement his defensive strengths.
Measuring the Australian’s contribution by his impact on the scoreboard when he is on the floor compared to when he is off it, he – alongside veteran guard CJ McCollum – is the Hawks’ most important player, according to advanced stats site Cleaning the Glass.The New York Post recognised Daniels’ influence this week when covering the challenge he will pose for the Knicks’ floor general and leading scorer, Brunson, describing him as a “defensive stopper”.No player has guarded Brunson more in the past 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 set to miss the first round series with an ankle injury.Josh Giddey’s Chicago Bulls missed the post-season, and Josh Green is only playing small minutes for the suddenly-hot Chicago Hornets, a situation similar for Matisse Thybulle in Portland.Other Australians are on playoff teams, like Joe Ingles in Minnesota, and Tyrese Proctor in Cleveland, but look to be outside the playoff rotation.It leaves the Bendigo-born guard as the main Australian attraction in the post-season.
Daniels’ father Ricky, brother Dash – who played in the NBL last season – and extended family will be there in New York, alongside a strong expat contingent in 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,”
Senate Democrats move to stall Trump’s ‘absurd’ bid to install new Fed chair
Democrats have moved to stall Donald Trump’s effort to exert greater control over the US Federal Reserve, condemning the president’s “absurd” bid to install a new leader of the central bank while it is targeted with criminal investigations.Democratic lawmakers on the Senate banking committee urged its Republican leadership on Thursday to postpone the planned confirmation hearing for Kevin Warsh, the financial executive and former Fed governor Trump has nominated to replace Jerome Powell as Fed chair.In a letter to banking committee chair Senator Tim Scott, a Republican from South Carolina, the 11 Democrats called for a hearing currently scheduled for Tuesday to be delayed until investigations into Powell and Lisa Cook, a current Fed governor, are closed.Powell – whom the president has frequently and publicly chastised over his refusal to dramatically lower interest rates – is facing a criminal investigation into the renovations of the central bank’s headquarters, which he dismissed as a “pretext” tied to the Fed’s refusal to bow to Trump’s demands.The Trump administration also tried to fire Cook, an appointee of Joe Biden, for alleged mortgage fraud
Next chief Simon Wolfson paid record £7.4m – and could get far more this year
The Next chief executive, Simon Wolfson, took home more than £7m last year, his highest ever pay package, and could be handed up to £9.27m this year after the retailer announced plans to increase his basic salary and bonuses.The listed company said it was increasing its pay deal for the long-term leader of the fashion and homewares retailer, which now controls a string of brands in the UK including Gap, Victoria’s Secret, Cath Kidston, Reiss and FatFace, as his remuneration was 30% below the average for FTSE 100 bosses.The directors on its remuneration committee said in the annual report published on Thursday that the changes were also being made as Next’s returns to shareholders had been higher than other leading listed companies over several years.“Given this sustained outperformance, the committee does not consider the current levels of remuneration to be appropriately aligned with performance,” the report said
It will take more than £600m a year to boost UK industrial competitiveness | Nils Pratley
It is “bold action” to boost UK competitiveness, claimed the government. Not everybody shared that assessment of the British industrial competitiveness scheme (Bics), the long-awaited plan to cut electricity bills for UK manufacturers by up to 25% – or, at least, to cut them for a subset of firms that are aligned with the eight chosen sectors of the “modern” industrial strategy.“Gas intensive industries in the UK have been shamefully ignored by the government in this announcement – it’s a total disgrace,” said Gary Smith, the general secretary of the GMB union, banging the drum for the likes of ceramics-makers and brickmakers that aren’t deemed modern enough for support. Employer bodies mostly did the polite thing of welcoming government assistance of any form before using phrases such as “drop in the ocean”.And, it’s true, £600m a year across 10,000 companies isn’t much
IMF chief Georgieva warns ‘everyone will feel the impact’ of energy price shock, as UK growth beats forecasts – as it happened
Over in Washington DC, the International Monetary Fund is holding a debate on the global economy.IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva says the world economy is facing another, large, shock:double quotation markThe world economy has been, very resilient over the last few years, facing shock after the shock. And this resilience is tested yet again, this time by a shock that is large.Twenty percent of oil and gas is stuck in the Strait of Hormuz, depriving primarily Asia, but also Europe, and other parts of the world of a vital resource. It is global
Europe has only six weeks’ supply of jet fuel left owing to Iran war, says energy chief
Europe has only six weeks of jet fuel left before shortages will hit because of the Iran war, according to the head of a global energy watchdog.Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, said there would be flight cancellations “soon” if oil supplies from the Middle East were not restored within the coming weeks.“I can tell you soon we will hear the news that some of the flights from city A to city B might be cancelled as a result of lack of jet fuel,” he told the Associated Press.KLM, part of the Air France-KLM group, said on Thursday it would cut 160 flights in the coming month because of high kerosene jet fuel prices. Although less than 1% of its schedule, the cancellations underline the financial pressures on the airline industry
Metro Bank boss handed record £2.6m a year after slashing 1,000 jobs
Metro Bank’s chief executive has been handed a £2.6m pay packet – the largest in its history – a year after slashing 1,000 jobs in response to the lender’s near collapse.The figure is more than double the £1.2m Dan Frumkin was paid in 2024. Metro pushed through the pay bump and complex bonus scheme for the former RBS and Northern Rock banker at a shareholder meeting last year
Campaigners seek listed status for historic trig points that mapped Britain
DJ Shadow: ‘Kraftwerk are a touchstone for every phase of my career’
Meghan’s Sydney wellness retreat promises ‘a girls’ weekend like no other’ – but what does a $3,200 ticket buy?
Stephen Colbert to Trump: ‘Why would you start a beef with the pope?’
‘This craving to go viral is tiresome’: the artists sick of the pressure to promote on social media
Sir Neil Cossons obituary