Much was made about Karl-Anthony Towns’ regular-season dominance over the Atlanta Hawks, so his slow start to Game 1 of their first-round playoff series stood out.

Towns attempted only one shot in the first quarter, didn’t score until there was 4:50 left in the first half, and didn’t make a basket until there was 2:53 remaining before the break.

This was after Hawks head coach Quin Snyder acknowledged during his pregame press conference that the towering Towns presented a difficult challenge for his team’s undersized, banged-up front court.

But Towns took over when it mattered most, scoring 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Knicks to a 113-102 win at Madison Square Garden.

“The ball went in for him in the second half,” head coach Mike Brown said.

The 7-foot Towns averaged 28.5 points on 62.9% shooting and 13.5 rebounds per game in two regular-season meetings with the Hawks, who traded away 7-2 center Kristaps Porzingis in February and are currently missing 6-11 backup center Jock Landale due to an ankle injury.

But Towns began Saturday’s playoff game as a facilitator, repeatedly looking for cutters rather than chasing his own shots.

Towns assisted on two of the Knicks’ first three field goals — both to Jalen Brunson — and recorded three assists before he made his first basket.

“I wanted to know — they had a week of practice — to see what their game plan was,” Towns said. “Seeing the pressure, when you’ve got someone like [Brunson] and the amazing teammates we’ve got, I wanted to make sure to get them going early.”

That helped Brunson erupt for 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the first quarter.

“In the first half, he facilitated a lot,” Brown said of Towns. “We played through him. He made some great passes for some easy buckets, and so we’re just trying to mix it up for him.”

Scoring was a grind for Towns early on, however. He went into halftime with six points on 1-of-6 shooting, and he was 2-of-9 from the field going into the fourth quarter.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, 6-10 Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu, scored 10 points in the first half and finished with 19, going 4-of-6 from 3-point range.

But it was KAT who loomed largest down the stretch.

He shot 4-for-4 from the field, including 2-for-2 on 3-pointers, in the game’s final 7:29.

Towns’ 3-pointer with 4:36 to go put the Knicks up by 19, serving as the exclamation point and providing more than enough cushion, even as the Hawks closed the gap in the waning minutes.

“We’ve got an amazing team that, not only our starting five, but everyone on the team could impact winning and can go out there and do an amazing job,” Towns said. “So, just us continuing to trust each other and us going out there as a team and winning as a team is the most important thing.”

Towns is a major X-factor for the Knicks, not only in this series but for the entirety of this playoff run. At his best, Towns is a matchup nightmare who forms a potent one-two punch with Brunson.

And while the six-time All-Star finished with a career-low 13.8 shot attempts per game this season, Towns entered the postseason playing his best basketball of the year.

“The longer we’re on the court together, our chemistry’s better,” Brunson said. “I think we’ve grown as teammates, grown as friends.”