Hawks stun Knicks
- The Hawks pulled off a road comeback to beat the Knicks in Madison Square Garden during Game 2. - CJ McCollum was the standout, drawing headlines as “MSG’s new villain” after his big performance. - Analysts say the result reshapes expectations in the East and injects momentum into Atlanta's series. (sports.yahoo.com)
Atlanta walked out of Madison Square Garden with a 107-106 Game 2 win on April 20, erasing a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit and tying the series 1-1. (nba.com) CJ McCollum scored 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting and had six assists in 35 minutes, leading Atlanta’s comeback after New York led 92-80 early in the fourth. (espn.com) The Knicks scored just 15 points in the final quarter after putting up 32 in the first, 29 in the second and 30 in the third. Jalen Brunson finished with 29 points, but New York could not close out the game at home. (espn.com) The result flipped the first-round matchup from a possible 2-0 Knicks lead to a tied series heading to Atlanta for Game 3 on Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m. Eastern. The Knicks entered as the East’s No. 3 seed after a 53-29 regular season, while the Hawks were No. 6 at 46-36. (nba.com) McCollum also became the focal point of the night inside the Garden, where Yahoo Sports described him as New York’s “new villain” after he scored six of Atlanta’s last eight points. McCollum said afterward, “I’m not the villain.” (sports.yahoo.com) That label carries extra weight in this building because Atlanta has already played spoiler here in recent postseasons, most memorably during Trae Young’s 2021 series against the Knicks. Yahoo Sports said McCollum has now stepped into that role for this Hawks group. (sports.yahoo.com) NBA.com said Atlanta “overcame a 12-point deficit in the 4th quarter,” a swing that immediately changed the tenor of the series after New York controlled much of Game 2. The Hawks now return home with the split they needed after dropping Game 1. (nba.com) By the end, the loudest road moment of Atlanta’s season belonged to McCollum, and the series that opened in New York is heading south even. (nba.com)
