The Knicks are supposed to push the Hawks around in this first-round playoff series. They did it in Game 1, but not since then.
The Knicks have more players with deep experience. It looked that way early on in New York, but that seems like a long time ago now.
The Knicks surrendered a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter of Game 2 at Madison Square Garden. They couldn’t even get off a shot when trailing by one point at the end of Game 3 at rowdy State Farm Arena on Thursday night.
The Hawks are up 2-1 in the best-of-seven playoff series after beating the Knicks 109-108. The Hawks matched New York’s physicality all game. They had more poise than the Knicks when it mattered the most.
The Knicks rallied to take the lead after trailing by 11 points in the fourth quarter. The Hawks took it back in the final moments, then locked up the Knicks on the game’s final possession.
“That’s the game,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder said of New York’s surge. “That happens. You are in fight or flight mode for a couple hours every game.”
The Hawks fought. You can see them develop more backbone as the series goes on.
The Knicks came here determined to take back home-court advantage in the series. The Hawks didn’t yield. There were so many plays that showed they meant business.
Hawks center Onyeka Okongwu twice met bruising Knicks forward OG Anunoby at the rim and turned away his shot. Slender Hawks forward Jalen Johnson ripped a rebound away from Knicks big man Karl-Anthony Towns. Jonathan Kuminga scored while taking on three Knicks defenders at the basket.
The Hawks knocked the Knicks back from the start. They led by as many as 18 points in the first half. The Hawks were up 96-85 with nine minutes to go, but the lead was down to four points less than two minutes later.
The Knicks tied the game on Miles McBride’s three-pointer with 1:41 left. The Knicks took a 108-105 lead on Jalen Brunson’s three-point play with 63 seconds left. Towns blocked Johnson’s shot, but Johnson retained the ball and scored with 53 seconds to go.
The Hawks harassed Brunson on New York’s next possession until he launched an airball for a shot-clock violation. McCollum went to his best move, a pull-up fadeaway, for the go-ahead basket with 12.7 seconds left.
That left plenty of time for Brunson to try to win the game. He didn’t get a good chance because the Hawks swarmed the Knicks from every direction.
Brunson got the ball in a scramble situation with about seven seconds left. Okongwu beat Brunson to the spot when he tried to drive. Brunson ran out of room at the baseline.
Kuminga, who was terrific off the bench again, came over to cut off Brunson’s passing options. Brunson tried to thread a pass that never found its target. Kuminga chased down the loose ball to clinch the victory.
“A lot of good things on that possession” Snyder said. “All five guys did their job.”
It was like that all game. The Hawks rattled the Knicks with relentless defensive pressure.
They poked the ball away. They tipped passes. The Hawks cut off Knicks ballhandlers when they turned the corner. They did it all without fouling too much.
The Knicks played rugged defense, too. Johnson, the Hawks’ All-Star, handled it better than he has all series, while scoring 24 points with eight assists against just two turnovers.
The Knicks flummoxed Johnson at times, but he kept coming.
“It’s the playoffs,” Johnson said. “We are still trying to adjust to it, still learning. Going back and watching film and trying to match their physicality, I think I did a better job of doing that tonight. Just continue to stay strong, play bold and play through all of that.”
McCollum was the closer again. He followed his 32-point outburst with 23 points in Game 2. McCollum scored 16 points in the first half Thursday to help stake the Hawks to a 58-50 lead.
McCollum again was more clutch in the end than Brunson, the 2025 Clutch Player of the Year.
“I’m comfortable with failure and I’m comfortable with success,” McCollum said. “I’ve played for a long time. I cherish the game. I think it’s maximizing talent and really working. I think the team has a real faith in my talent and ability.”
The Hawks all seem to have faith in each other. That’s why I didn’t dismiss their late-season runoff wins against bad teams and good ones missing key players. The Hawks were developing a team spirit that hasn’t faltered as the games get harder.
The Hawks seemed to feed off the venom at Madison Square Garden while winning Game 2. I wondered if they would keep that same edge when returning home. It didn’t take long to find out.
The Hawks have plenty of room for improvement. They got sloppy with the ball during New York’s second-half surge. They still haven’t figured out how to keep the bigger Knicks off the offensive glass.
Said Kuminga: “I think it’s cleaning up the execution, offense and defense, and being ready for the physicality on Saturday (for Game 4) because we know we’re going to have another dogfight.”
The Knicks are supposed to win those kinds of games. The Hawks have won two out of three. They are done being pushed around by the Knicks.
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