The Atlanta Hawks pulled off an impressive comeback on Monday as they stunned the New York Knicks 107-106 to tie the series 1-1.
New York’s size and defense were key factors most of the night and kept the Hawks from truly catching fire on offense. The Knicks came out strong and led by nine after the first quarter.
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CJ McCollum was the lone bright spot for Atlanta as the Hawks bounced back slightly in the second. While he did all he could on offense, Atlanta struggled to stop the Knicks from pulling rebounds.
New York had a huge advantage in both rebounds and turnovers. In the second half, New York continued to put up points at a steady pace while most of Atlanta’s starters remained cold.
But in the fourth quarter, the Hawks finally caught a rhythm and chipped away at New York’s lead. Over the course of most of the final frame, Atlanta slowly put up points while forcing the Knicks into a cold streak.
With less than three minutes to go, McCollum’s clutch finish capped off a 9-0 run and gave the Hawks a one-point lead.
O.G. Anunoby then missed two huge free throws to give the Hawks the ball back with two minutes to go. On the other end, McCollum sank a floater before Jalen Brunson tied it up with a three.
With 40 seconds to go McCollum sank a tough mid-range jumper to go up by two. Nickeil Alexander-Walker stopped Brunson on the other end before Jalen Johnson threw down a fastbreak dunk to take a four-point lead with 10 seconds to go.
Off the inbound, Brunson hit a clutch pull-up three to make it a one-point game. After a foul, McCollum missed both free throws but Mikal Bridges missed the potential game-winner on the other end.
McCollum finished with 32 points and six assists.
For the Knicks, Brunson put up 29 points and seven assists.
James Parker contributed to this story.
