After a strong Game 1, New York had probably expected to press home the advantage in Game 2 and head to Atlanta up 2-0. On Monday night, CJ McCollum decided that was not happening. 32 points, ice-cold execution in the closing minutes, and a final buzzer that left New York stunned into silence. Atlanta won 107-106, levelled the series at 1-1, and headed back to Georgia with a result few had truly seen coming.
[youtube v=”86zcIrVuAsY” maxwidth=”560px”]
By the end of the third quarter, though, the script looked set. The Knicks were up by 12, Karl-Anthony Towns had just dropped 14 in the third alone, and Atlanta had not led once in the second half. New York had been 40-1 in the playoffs since 1955 when leading by 12 or more after three quarters. The only loss? Reggie Miller’s 25-point fourth quarter at the Garden in 1994. Stats like that do not lie very often.
McCollum, when it mattered most
CJ McCollum landed in Atlanta in January as part of the trade that sent Trae Young to Washington. It was the kind of move that sparked endless debate, split a fanbase, and looked like a midseason gamble with plenty of downside. On Monday night at the Garden, he answered every critic in one go. A basket with 2:09 left gave the Hawks their first lead of the second half, 101-100. Then he hit another to push the margin to three. Brunson answered with a three to tie it, McCollum came straight back with a step-back from mid-range, and Atlanta led 105-103 with 33 seconds to go. Cold. Controlled. Ruthless.
Fun chess match at the end of Hawks/Knicks.
Brunson was trying to get the Okongwu matchup almost every time down. Hawks mixed coverages up very nicely to try and keep him off balance. Sprinkled in hedges, hedge-and-unders, blitzing, switching, hard doubling. pic.twitter.com/v4h6WvpxPj
— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) April 21, 2026
What made it even better was the atmosphere around it. Late in the third quarter, McCollum and Jose Alvarado went nose to nose, tempers flared, and two technical fouls were handed out. The Garden roared, booed, and let him have it. McCollum answered by playing the best basketball of his night. “It’s a long game,” he said afterwards, without fuss. “You have to play it to zero.”
New York handed the game away
Atlanta nearly blew it anyway. McCollum missed two free throws with 5.6 seconds left, giving New York one last chance to steal it. No timeout. The ball ended up in Mikal Bridges’ hands on the move. His shot rimmed out. Game over.
The Knicks only had themselves to blame. Haunted by a near-anonymous Towns in the first half, with just four points before the break, they had still built a healthy lead through a commanding third quarter. But in crunch time the decisions dried up, the shots stopped falling, and an Atlanta team powered by youth and McCollum took what it had come for. Josh Hart, who finished with 15 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists for the Knicks, did not mince his words: “This is a game we had to win. In the playoffs, you can’t give games away.”
“This is a game we should’ve won. In the playoffs you can’t give away games”
– Josh Hart on Game 2 pic.twitter.com/PyYveuV91R
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 21, 2026
Jalen Brunson on the 4th quarter of Game 2:
“We were a little stagnant. I have a saying – I can control what I can control. Poor decision making on my part. We’ve got to play better with the lead. That’s twice in the 4th quarter we’ve done that” pic.twitter.com/U9IYC9Tz3b
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) April 21, 2026
Brunson finished with 29 points but vanished in the fourth quarter, while McCollum quite literally stole the spotlight on his own stage.
The series is tied, Atlanta has the edge
New York wanted to bury Atlanta early, go up 2-0, and coast. Instead, it blew the chance. The Hawks head home with the momentum, the belief, and the feeling that their January arrival can deliver when the pressure is at its highest. Jalen Johnson added a timely 17 points, while Jonathan Kuminga chipped in 19 off the bench. This team has talent, and it is starting to show it at exactly the wrong time for the Knicks.
Game 3 is on Thursday in Atlanta. New York now knows this series will not be a walk. And McCollum knows he has found his moment.
Leave a Reply