For the second time in four nights, CJ McCollum walked into a huddle late in a one-possession playoff game and walked out a Knick killer. His 15-foot fadeaway with 12.5 seconds left was the difference in a 109-108 Hawks win at State Farm Arena on Thursday night, and just like that, Atlanta has a 2-1 series lead over New York with Game 4 coming back home.
The Hawks controlled almost the entire night. They led by as many as 18 in the first half, built on a 27-12 run to close the first quarter that featured three straight threes — one from Mouhamed Gueye, then two in a row from Jonathan Kuminga — that had State Farm Arena rocking like Magic City on a Monday. Atlanta took a 58-50 lead into halftime and kept the Knicks at the same distance through three.
Then New York did what New York always does. Jalen Brunson dragged them back into it, and when he hit a three-point play with 1:03 left, the Knicks had their first lead of the second half at 108-105. It felt like the script was flipping from Monday night. It wasn’t
Jalen Johnson answered immediately with a rolling bucket to cut it to one. Josh Hart missed a three. McCollum got the ball with the season’s pressure sitting on his shoulders and hit the kind of shot that builds playoff reputations — a clinical step back jumper from the elbow that was going in from the moment it left his fingertips.
Still, the Knicks had a chance to win on the final possession. They scrambled to get the ball to Brunson, who was aided by an illegal screen from Karl-Anthony Towns, but it didn’t matter. Two Hawks defenders guarded Brunson all the way to the baseline, where he had nowhere to go, forcing him to toss the ball helplessly out to the perimeter. The Knicks never got a shot off, and the Hawks escaped for a 2-1 series lead.
Johnson had the best game of his series— 24 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals, a block. McCollum finished with 23, and Kuminga added 21 off the bench — they’ve been the two best players through the first three games.
For New York, OG Anunoby led the way with 29 points, featuring a plethora of desperate threes that seemingly always found the bottom of the net. Without him, this game would have gotten ugly.
Two months ago, the Hawks were a playoff afterthought. They’re now up 2-1 on a top seed and have stolen two straight from a Knicks team that people were picking to win the Eastern Conference.
Game 4 is Saturday in Atlanta. Win it, and the Hawks have the chance to repeat history, finishing off a series in front of Madison Square Garden.
CAWWW CAWWW.
