The New York Knicks played themselves out of winning game three of their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, 109-108, on Thursday night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Their opponents hold a 2-1 series lead over them going into the fourth game of the series.
After he led an improbable fourth-quarter comeback in game two, CJ McCollum sank a quick mid-range jumper on the final possession, putting his team ahead by one. With 12 seconds left on the clock, New York had adequate time to conjure up a design play for Jalen Brunson to take the final shot. The Knicks put the ball in the hands of their most reliable scorer, only for him to make an ugly pass that landed out of his team’s hands, resulting in the Hawks getting the ball back with time expired.
“We got a switch that we weren’t thinking of that we thought we would get in terms of [Onyeka Okongwu] on Brunson. And we cleared the side for him, and that’s what we wanted to do. Zip him to the top of the floor that right side at four four because that’s what he’s comfortable going, and we told him to go win it,” head coach Mike Brown said during a postgame press conference.
But make no mistake, the final possession was far from the Knicks’ only blunder. They fell behind early, allowing the Hawks to outscore them 33-21 in the first quarter. They faced multiple double-digit deficits throughout both halves.
Their defense was no match for McCollum, who had Brunson’s number throughout the affair with 23 points. And if the defense shut down Jalen Johnson and McCollum in the final possession, that would’ve completed the comeback.
In this instance, you can’t blame brown for questionable decision making. The blame is all on the team, with forward Mikal Bridges not scoring a single point and giving up four turnovers. This parallels the Hawks’ playmakers, as Jonathan Kuminga and Johnson tallied 21 and 24 points against the Knicks’ defense.
“We’ve got to put it all together. Starts with me. I’ve got to be better. We’ve got to play as a team and fight for all 48,” Bridges said, adding that he had “a bad turnover day for me. Got to clean that up, it’s on me.”
With eight points being the differential between both teams, Brown kept Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench to start the fourth quarter. It’s déjà vu from game two, where New York began to surrender their lead without their two most productive scorers on the floor. Yet this time it resulted in them keeping the game within a more manageable 10 points.
Down double digits in need of another comeback, Miles McBride answered the call, drilling a long-range shot to bring the game within four points. Towns was rejected at the rim, but a miraculous end-of-shot-clock three from OG Anunoby made it a one-possession game.
Moments later, Anunoby did it again from long range as the shot clock wound down. McBride found enough separation to tie the game with a deep three, as Brunson attacked the interior to put the Knicks in front. But the All-Star guard came up short on his next three-point attempt and turned the ball over on the final possession.
Anunoby led the Knicks with 29 points and nine rebounds. Brunson posted 26, but went 0-for-5 from beyond the arc. Towns tallied 21 points and 17 rebounds, as McBride totaled 15.
With the Hawks ahead 2-1, the Knicks will need to pull off a win in game four to tie the series, as it goes back to Madison Square Garden for game five. Game four of the first round series is scheduled for Saturday night at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
