The Atlanta Hawks overcame a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to even their best-of-seven series against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, taking a 107-106 victory. CJ McCollum led all scorers with 32 points while Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench. For the Knicks, Jalen Brunson scored 29 points with Karl-Anthony Towns adding 18 points.
The Hawks began this game with a change in approach, using Dyson Daniels to guard Karl-Anthony Towns, who similarly began the game guarding Daniels. In a physical affair in the first quarter, it was the Knicks who just exploited the Hawks’ lack of size and attacked on the offensive glass, scoring seven second chance points in the first quarter alone. The hosts established a double-digit lead in the first quarter but a strong start to the second quarter — with Towns and Brunson on the bench —saw the Hawks take a brief lead. Three-point shooting and capitalizing on New York turnovers contributed to this quick turnaround, but it did not last.
The Knicks re-took the lead and took a five-point lead into the second half, where a quick burst led by Josh Hart and Towns saw the Knicks re-establish their double-digit lead, running as high as 14 points. While the lead, at times, hovered in and around double-digits for much of the second half. Even as the fourth quarter arrived, the Knicks still held a double-digit lead having successfully kept the Hawks at arm’s length for the third quarter. Then, the tide began to shift.
The Hawks began to find success getting to the rim, in fact, converting all 11 of their attempts around the rim in the fourth quarter:
The Knicks had success earlier in the game lobbing to Mitchell Robinson, but when they try to run it again in the fourth it’s broken up by Kuminga and falls to Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who gets the ball to Corey Kispert, who finishes at the rim:
Working at the three-point line waiting for a hand-off, Onyeka Okongwu receives a great contribution from Gabe Vincent, who not only manages to push Mikal Bridges out of the way and sets the screen on Robinson which allows Okongwu to go from waiting for a hand-off option to being able to spot the opportunity and drive the ball himself to the rim for the dunk, leading to a quick New York timeout:
Vincent is involved again, this time in the pick-and-roll with Kuminga, who receives the ball and darts down the lane, rising effortlessly for the slam dunk:
The help defender for the Knicks here is OG Anunoby, who is quick to rotate but Kuminga quicker getting in the lane and with his athleticism, Anunoby quickly makes the executive decision to not contest this dunk.
The Knicks suffer another lapse at the rim, this time it’s Robinson who allows Okongwu to wander behind him, and Kuminga finds Okongwu for the easy lob:
Kuminga’s first half wasn’t brilliant, but he was excellent in the second half, and his strong played continued as he attacks Jordan Clarkson, getting into the lane, drawing the contact and hitting the hook shot, plus the foul:
Again faced with a mismatch in Jalen Brunson, Kuminga attacks him off of the dribble and gets to rim for the basket:
A good job of recognizing and attacking the mismatch, but a bad mistake for the Knicks to make to allow it to happen and lack of organization sorting their matchups out heading down the floor. It also marks one of many possessions where Brunson gets torched defensively.
For now, another basket on a mismatch, this time courtesy of Jalen Johnson, who takes it to the chest of Hart, and finishes off glass to reduce the Knicks lead further:
Now with the Hawks down by one point, the CJ McCollum show begins.
Having already had a strong game up to this point (particularly in the first quarter), McCollum got his run started as he puts Brunson on skates with the dribble move, and drives to the rim for the basket, lifting his layup high off of the glass to avoid Towns’ block attempt to give the Hawks their first lead since the second quarter:
In isolation this time beyond the three-point line, McCollum drives by Brunson with ease — who makes a poor attempt to stay in front of McCollum and then reach from behind — and rises into his runner to extend the Atlanta lead:
A three from Brunson ties the game at 103 apiece, and McCollum takes charge again. This time, he’s guarded by Anunoby, who does a much better job defending McCollum, following him towards the baseline after the screen from Okongwu. Despite Anunoby’s efforts, McCollum connects on the fadeaway jumper to return the lead to the Hawks:
While all of these baskets were important, arguably the most important one comes here, as Brunson is stripped by Alexander-Walker as he rises into the shot, and the turnover is created. Alexander-Walker finds Johnson, who streaks ahead and dunks at the rim, giving the Hawks a four point lead with 10 seconds remaining:
From trailing all of the way in the second half, the Hawks have rallied to take a two-possession lead with 10 seconds remaining and on course to steal Game 2. However, a quick three out of the timeout by Brunson and two missed free throws from McCollum put the game in doubt.
The Knicks elect not to take a timeout and push up the floor. They get the ball to Bridges, who rises near the corner amidst the contest of Johnson, and the ball hits the front of the rim. The game is over, and the Atlanta Hawks steal Game 2 on the road to even the series:
The Hawks shot 72% in the final quarter to outscore the Knicks 28-15, while the Knicks shot just 22% — 5-of-22 and 3-of-11 from three. An utter collapse on both ends of the floor for the Knicks, who couldn’t stop the Hawks at the rim, nor could find success through Brunson.
Postgame, the word ‘resilience’ was put forward to Hawks head coach Quin Snyder when describing the comeback, a sentiment he felt summarized their efforts in this game.
“I think that’s a great word to describe the night for us,” said Snyder postgame. “New York was dialed in and knocked us back at the beginning of the game. We were competing, we just needed to continue to raise our level and the guys did that. I just thought the way they fought and competed throughout the whole game, and then obviously, we’re able to make some plays late.”
Despite the Knicks clearly establishing themselves as the superior team for three quarters with the counting stats pointing in their favor (shooting 52% from the field, holding the Hawks to under 30% from three, scoring 22 second chance points through three quarters), the Hawks were, mostly, getting the shots they wanted up to that point.
“…I missed four wide-open threes, I missed a corner three, I missed a left wing three, I missed a left slot three, I missed a one-legged three at the end of the quarter, which is whatever,” McCollum listed. “Mo missed a left corner three, ‘JK’ missed a left-corner three, Nickeil missed a trail three, and he made a right corner three. We had possessions where guys that we wanted to shoot were shooting. We had a swing-swing to JJ, he pumped faked and shot a three at the end of the shot clock. Those are great possessions where we did what we said we wanted to do going into the game, and we just missed, and it’s a make-or-miss league.”
Despite the deficit, McCollum rallied the Hawks and encouraged them that they were never far away in this game.
“It’s a long game,” said McCollum. “I think with the experience and just watching so much basketball and playing in so many big moments, you know don’t get caught up in the possessions, don’t get caught up in misses, turnovers, fouls, good or bad. It’s a long game; you’ve got to play it to zero. The way the game is played now is so fast, there’s so many threes, there’s so many possessions. You always have a chance. So, I just told them we’ve just got to stay within one, two possessions, stay a punch away, and then we’ll throw the last punch.”
The Hawks produced multiple defensive stops in the fourth quarter which allowed them to build their run, founded upon their success at the rim.
“I think we just kept competing,” said Snyder of the fourth quarter defense. “Over the course of a game, if you don’t let up and you don’t give in to that, you have an opportunity to have more success late if you just hang in there. We know they’re such a good team and they’re so hard to guard offensively that I think our guys understand that when they do score, you just can’t get discouraged. You just need to keep trying to raise your level. We had a hard time on the defensive glass. Those plays can really be deflating but I thought we responded to those as well. We never quite figured it out, but we dug in in other aspects of the game.”
Let’s talk CJ McCollum now.
Hands up: I wrote before the series that I was concerned with the potential reliance on McCollum in the stretch versus Brunson and said there was a gap between the two players. I said it, and I still think it’s not an outrageous assessment, or concern, to hold, especially in a game where the Hawks’ top two options in Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker struggled to make their usual impact.
However, I was wrong to be concerned about McCollum’s clutch play, because it’s just won the Hawks a playoff game that they probably fall short in otherwise. McCollum was brilliant down the stretch (free throws aside, which, had the Bridges shot gone in, we’d be having a very different conversation — it didn’t, so we aren’t) and took offensive responsibility when the Hawks needed it, with Alexander-Walker scoring nine points, and Johnson scoring 17 points after finding a better rhythm in the second half.
“I make the hard shots and miss the easy ones,” said McCollum of missing his free throws late. “I’m going to have to get in the gym and work on my wide-open free throws. Credit to JJ for getting back on defense and us doing enough to win but got to make those (free throws).”
McCollum scored 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting from the field, but it was his leadership which impressed Quin Snyder even more so.
“The things I really liked, I really liked CJ’s leadership as much as the shot making,” said Snyder. “I thought Nickeil and JJ, their recognition of how we were playing the game offensively and their selflessness in those situations. When they needed to make plays, they made plays too. But as I said, CJ’s leadership was really good with the ball in his hands and hopefully we can shoot better. But to win a game when you don’t shoot well sometimes is more gratifying than the other.”
The media narrative after the game focused on a new guard for the Knicks to center their ire on in the absence now of Trae Young; these were the first questions that were asked of McCollum after the game. I can’t say I’m a fan that this is the narrative chosen when there are other angles to take instead which also praise McCollum’s impact and clutch performance in the face of those who picked the Knicks to comfortably win this series (again, I’m guilty of this, for the sake of transparency), but it is something that has to be highlighted. This was McCollum’s response when asked in the opening question how he felt about being a villain and another guard who has drawn the ire of the Knicks crowd.
“I am no villain, I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife,” McCollum replied postgame. “I think it’s admiration. Great, passionate fans in a really hostile environment. It’s fun, it’s basketball, it’s the playoffs. If anything, I think it’s a sign of respect.”
McCollum was asked further about playing to the animosity of the Knicks crowd, but didn’t play into it the narrative too much, outlining the respect he has for the Knicks and their fans, as well as playing in the Garden in the postseason.
“I love it, I love it,” added McCollum when asked about feeding off the animosity of the crowd. “It’s why we play the game. It’s fun being in opposing arenas and when the buzzer sounds, and it’s quiet and you walk off the court. I think there’s a level of mutual respect. It was a tough game against a good team on their home floor and they’re supposed to be passionate, and I think they do a great job of showing up consistently throughout the year. I’ve been to games in the Garden as a fan and watched, I’ve seen playoff games here. It’s a pleasure to be able to play here and it’s a pleasure to be able to walk off the court with a win.”
“CJ, that got him going, I think he enjoyed it,” added Jonathan Kuminga. “The crowd shouldn’t really do that or say that. I think that really got him going, I think it got all of us going, just the energy.”
McCollum’s efforts in the fourth quarter down the stretch will rightly be praised, but his shot-making in the first half I thought was equally important as it kept the Hawks in the game at a time where the Knicks could have begun to stretch away. In future games, the Hawks hope that Alexander-Walker and Johnson will have more offensive impact scoring the ball, but how comforting it must be for the Hawks to know that they can still win a playoff game on the road with neither Johnson or Alexander-Walker having great games, the Hawks shooting 30% from three, and the Knicks scoring 24 second chance points. The belief will have grown massively off of the back of this win, and McCollum has a very large role in that as the series now shifts to Atlanta.
Another reason the Hawks were able to pull off this victory was due to the play of Jonathan Kuminga off the bench. Kuminga scored 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field, including seven in the fourth quarter as we looked at — a quarter where he played the entire 12 minutes.
Snyder acknowledged the contributions Kuminga made on offense, but praised his defensive contributions, too.
“He made some plays offensively that were great,” said Snyder of Kuminga. “I think you could just feel the way he competed on the defensive end. It was a huge lift for us, just his physicality, the way he defended the ball, the way he got to the glass, guarded Towns at times. On the offensive end he got us a few big buckets, too.”
Kuminga sensed that the Hawks’ energy was perhaps lower in the first half, and his objective was to play physically in order to change the tempo in the game.
“I think just setting the tone, mostly on defense,” said Kuminga of bringing the energy off the bench. “Being physical as much as I can, because I feel like our energy was a little bit lower because we wasn’t hitting shots that we usually make. There was something else that needed to be done, and I think it’s just the mindset coming out there, trying to engage all the guys and trying to be as physical as much as I can.”
Kuminga had some high energy defensive plays and leapt for loose balls that were heading out of bounds. His effort did not go unnoticed out on the floor. Offensively, he provided a big spark in the fourth taking it to the rim and exploiting the mismatches in front of him. Heading into the series, the Hawks needed strong performances like this from Kuminga to have a chance in swinging the bench battle and to have any chance winning this series they need these types of games from Kuminga. His efforts helped the Hawks win the bench battle 28-20.
Snyder was pleased not just with Kuminga’s contribution, but there were mentions for the other members of the bench.
“…We got some big plays from other guys,” added Quin Snyder. “I think everybody from Tony Bradley, when Mo went down, I thought Corey and Gabe, both off the bench, sparked runs. Two guys that are just really competitive and good basketball players. It was a team win.”
Quick-Hitters
This section is more dedicated to the other talking points of this game/series that we’ll discuss quickly.
Jalen Johnson had a difficult start to this game, scoring four points in the first half on 0-of-4 shooting before finishing with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The ball went through Johnson more in the second half, and he was able to get to the rim and finish more in the second half. Overall, however, this was a pretty quiet Johnson game. This is his first postseason appearance as a leading star of the team, and first experience with all the nuances the postseason provides, and Quin Snyder described this particular process and how Johnson proceeds in this scenario where he has to give the ball up in certain situations as a matchup develops.
“I think him just keeping an even keel,” said Snyder of Johnson of the next step in the series. “As the game progressed, he found more of a rhythm. That’s hard to do than maybe coming out and having everything go your way. His ability to kind of grind through those situations, and when that happens and then the ball goes to CJ, or Nickeil’s in an action, that’s a big thing for Jalen to understand how important he is and how much we need his offense. But then for him to also be able to recognize there are certain times in the game where he’s playing more of a secondary role. That doesn’t happen as much, obviously, but that’s the playoffs.”
Speaking of the Hawks’ other leading scorer, Nickeil Alexander-Walker is having a much more difficult time of things offensively in the postseason compared to the regular season matchup with the Knicks. As we saw with McCollum in the fourth, this is what happens when you’re guarded by Brunson and not Mikal Bridges. McCollum was easily able to get by Brunson, and Alexander-Walker has had a much difficult time offensively with Bridges guarding him instead of Brunson — averaging 15 points per game on 30% shooting from the field, shooting 3-of-12 in Game 2. Bridges spent over seven minutes of game time guarding Alexander-Walker, holding him to 1-of-4 shooting in their Game 2 matchup.
Interestingly, OG Anunoby spent the majority of his defensive time on Okongwu, while Josh Hart took the Jalen Johnson assignment (guarding him for over nine minutes with Johnson shooting 5-of-8 when guarded by Hart), leaving Towns on Daniels. It was an interesting adjustment for the Knicks, and I imagine there may be another adjustment to take Brunson off of McCollum, who shot 83% when guarded by Brunson, all per NBA.com’s matchup stats. The next step, I have to imagine, involves Brunson guarding Daniels, and while this would require a reshuffling — potentially placing Anunoby back on Johnson, and Hart onto McCollum — I think it’s a logical place for New York to look next.
Elsewhere, the Hawks have a Dyson Daniels problem in this series. His playing time was limited last night due to foul trouble — and some questionable fouls at that — but offensively he hasn’t been able to get to his drive and spin moves where he can either score himself or create for others in the manner he’s used to — only two assists in Game 2. Daniels is already left alone to shoot threes, and at the beginning of the game Towns was guarding him and just can stands off him until Daniels gets to the paint, leaving Towns free to roam defensively and help elsewhere.
If Daniels isn’t even able to get inside himself or get to his spin/floater/kick-out, all he’s doing at the moment offensively is setting screens for others. While there’s definitely value in that — and it was seen to have success in the regular season matchup with the Knicks — it’s not enough offensively and creates a problem for the Hawks. These ball screens haven’t been able to free up Alexander-Walker as they did in the regular season to get downhill. Fortunately, Alexander-Walker was able to pick up the defensive responsibilities on Brunson (and did a fantastic job at the end of the game, and held Brunson to 4-of-9 from the field per NBA.com’s matchup tracking), and Kuminga was able to get to the rim and score, and make a couple of plays such as the Okongwu lob.
Game 3 is a big one going forward for Daniels in this series, and I suspect his playing time may decrease slightly going forward from an offensive perspective. Defensively, he’s still very important for what the Hawks want to do and for guarding Brunson, but offensively I wonder if the Hawks can find another way for Daniels to be involved. Right now, it’s a lob of probing and then hand-off/screen, and that’s mostly it. Speaking of defense very quickly, I thought this was a much better showing from Johnson, highlighted by his effort at the end of the game on the Bridges contest to seal the game.
The second chance scoring is still a massive problem for the Hawks, with Snyder even admitting afterwards the Hawks still have no answer for this and didn’t figure it out in Game 2. On a different night, this is the defining feature of a New York Knicks victory — 22 second chance points through three quarters is monumental in a playoff game, and the Hawks are very fortunate it didn’t cost them victory.
All in all though, a great road victory for the Hawks, and a collapse from the Knicks at home, who really ought to have wrapped this game up after their strong three quarters. There were some shots you look back in that, had they gone in, change the course of this game — two consecutive three-point attempts from Bridges in the fourth that looked like they were in spring to mind.
But I think for the Knicks, those really difficult shots that Jalen Brunson hit in the regular season with such consistency finally fell out, and he shot just 10-of-26 from the field. McCollum and Kuminga were excellent, and they led the way for the Hawks to take a famous playoff victory in New York and swing home court advantage in their favor.
Game 3 takes place on Thursday night at State Farm Arena, and it’s set to be an enthralling affair.
Until next time!
