Game Recap: 2026 NBA Playoffs Round 1, Game 2 – NYK vs. ATL; L; ATL: 107, NYK: 106
The Knicks did everything wrong in the fourth quarter, then they got lucky, but they still couldn’t convert on a late chance. The NBC broadcast claimed Mike Brown had a timeout in his pocket, but that information was later revealed to be false.
After a historically bad fourth quarter in which the Knicks scored their fewest points – 15 – in any final frame this season, they have done exactly what they couldn’t afford to do: They let the Hawks back into this series.
Now, it doesn’t matter who the better team is on paper. The Knicks got arrogant, they played lazily, and now, with a 107-106 win, the Hawks have momentum heading back home to a city that a) hates the Knicks and b) is clamoring for playoff hoops.
CJ McCollum is the latest Knicks killer’s name. He is Public Enemy No. 1 in New York, if you will. He had his way with the Knicks all night, scoring 32 points, including six in the fourth quarter and four in the final two minutes. After tormenting the Garden crowd all evening, he sank the go-ahead shot with 33.5 seconds left, putting the Hawks ahead by two.
“He was in a great rhythm,” Jalen Brunson said. “I’ve got to disrupt it, make him play on his heels, make him react to me defensively. He was just in a rhythm, and you’ve got to give him a lot of credit.”
After Game 1, McCollum claimed Brunson faked a midsection injury for which he received a technical foul. “I shot a jumper, and Jalen thought we were at a Broadway show,” McCollum said.
Once I heard that quote, I knew McCollum would heat up in Game 2. In fact, this is what I wrote after Saturday’s game:
“It is clear that McCollum, who led the Hawks with 26 points, will return to Game 2 with a vengeance.”
Recall that in the fourth quarter on Saturday, the Hawks trailed by 19 points with 3:14 remaining. They then embarked on an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to eight points with 1:39 left. After that game, Brown claimed the Knicks took their foot off the gas. This time, they exited the vehicle completely by blowing a 12-point lead, tying the Reggie Miller choke game in 1994 for the largest blown fourth-quarter lead in franchise postseason history.
The Knicks called a timeout with 10.2 seconds left in regulation, and upon returning, Brunson nailed a three-point shot that tumbled in, dribbled out, and fell back through the hoop. Then, McCollum found his way to the free-throw line, but he missed both shots, giving the Knicks an extra possession.
Josh Hart grabbed the rebound. To avoid being fouled, he quickly dished the ball to Bridges, who sprinted up the court and attempted a shot at the left post. Although the shot rang off the iron, Brown was confident in his player’s decision.
“I thought it was a good shot,” Brown said. “Mikal got up the floor. I thought he got to the spot. He was a little off-balance. But, like, I don't think the shot was under a ton of duress. That’s shots that he's hit for us in the past.”
The reason fans thought Brown had another timeout left in those final seconds, which he theoretically could have called instead of letting Bridges take his shot, was that the NBC production truck failed to account for an NBA rule that limits a team’s fouls in the final three minutes. Brown had four fouls remaining before the three-minute mark, when one was taken away.
Brown was scrutinized for calling a timeout with 2:43 remaining, rather than adding another before the three-minute mark, because had he called one beforehand, he would not have wasted it.
Brown explained his reasoning, saying, “A couple of possessions weren’t fluid, so I wanted to make sure that we had something that we wanted to get to, or to set something up offensively, because we had whiffed on the last couple of possessions. It just didn’t look right, or didn’t feel right.”
Overall, when evaluating this game, it is still important to recognize how much the Knicks struggled in the final frame. Atlanta outscored them 28-15, even though they were in control for almost the entire game — at least, before the final few minutes of the fourth quarter.
Sure, this was just one game. Sure, it would be unfair to deem the Knicks “doomed.” But momentum can do funny things, and for the Knicks to lose the way they did, collapsing late in the final frame, there is plenty to be concerned about heading into Game 3.
Courtesy of McCollum, Atlanta took a 101-100 lead with 1:33 remaining. On the Knicks’ next possession, OG Anunoby got hit by McCollum, but he missed both of his free throws. That put the ball back in Atlanta’s hands, allowing McCollum to extend the Hawks’ lead to three points with a floater.
Brunson responded with a game-tying three, but he missed his next shot after a steal by Hart. Guess who didn’t miss, though? McCollum. With 35.5 seconds left, he regained the Hawks’ lead, and after Nickeil Alexander-Walker blocked Brunson’s next shot, Jalen Johnson added a dunk. The Knicks were down by four.
That was when the Knicks took a timeout, and Brunson nailed a massive in-and-out triple, but it wasn’t enough. Atlanta then called a timeout, and Hart fouled McCollum following an inbound pass. The rambunctious Garden crowd forced McCollum to miss both his free throws, but Bridges missed his game-winning jumper.
Atlanta dominated the Knicks in the fourth quarter in every facet. It is impossible to argue with that claim. Despite homecourt advantage, the Knicks collapsed in the most important frame of the game, which they entered with a 12-point lead.
New York finished the game with two more turnovers than the Hawks, and they conceded six more points off turnovers. Despite leading by as many as 14 points in this game, they gave up 18 free throws and missed 10.
“In a playoff game, it’s tough to win against a good team when you shoot 60% from the free-throw line,” Brown said. “In a one-possession game, we missed 10 free throws. In a one-possession game, we had 14 turnovers for 18 points. That’s how they beat us in transition was off our turnovers.
“We had some bad turnovers that led to some early baskets for those guys in transition. So, we have to do a better job at taking care of the ball and do a better job from the free-throw line.”
The Knicks also entered the final quarter with a 50-36 points-in-paint advantage, but Atlanta finished the game with four more points in the paint than New York. This means the Hawks outscored the Knicks 22-4 in the fourth quarter alone. We’re talking about a Hawks team that lost two key players – Mouhamed Gueye and Nickeil Alexander-Walker – early in the game. They eventually returned, but almost definitely lacked the energy they had at the start of the game.
Another reason the Knicks couldn’t hold their lead was their bench. After recording the team’s highest rating in Game 1, Miles McBride finished Game 2 with zero points and a -4 clip. Nobody on the bench was worse defensively than Mitchell Robinson, uncharacteristically, at -10, despite his bench-best 13 points.
Overall, the Knicks’ bench combined for 20 points and averaged a -4 rating, but only two of the five bench players found the bucket. Only Jose Alvarado finished with a positive score, but he shot 0-for-3 from the field.
“We’ve played that lineup quite a bit since the end of the season, and that lineup’s been pretty good,” Brown said of his bench. “We weren’t good tonight, and we turned the ball over a few too many times during that period. But we had opportunities where our starters were in, we were up 8 to 10, and Atlanta closed it.”
Furthermore, in the fourth quarter, Brunson scored 10 of his team’s final 15 points while Towns was nowhere to be found. In eight fourth-quarter minutes, the Jungle KAT that shone on Saturday turned back into Kitten Towns, shooting 0-for-2 with zero rebounds.
“We’ve gotta make sure [KAT is] involved,” said Hart, who recorded another triple-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but attempted just one shot — which he missed — in the fourth quarter. “Find him on mismatches. Put him in action, make sure we use his skill and his gravity to our advantage. That’s something where we’ll look at film and be better with.”
Ultimately, if nothing else, Game 2 was a reality check for Knicks fans. A sign that Saturday night’s 7th Avenue festivities were too chaotic for one playoff win. A sign that the Hawks are a good team, and the Knicks cannot afford to play lazily. They must turn things around in Game 3. This must silence the fans in Atlanta. They must regain the momentum of this series.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Towns said, referring to last year’s first-round series against Detroit, in which the Knicks split the first two games at home. “Obviously, everyone is frustrated with this loss, and we’re gonna go into Game 3 with great attention to detail and a great focus for the full 48 [minutes]. We’ve got high-character guys who respond well.”
The Knicks let Game 2 slip away, which is unacceptable. Now, their only hope is to befriend adversity.
Game 3 is scheduled for Thursday, 4/23 at 7 PM (6 PM CDT) (Prime Video).
Photo Courtesy: New York Knicks
