CJ McCollum hit a fadeaway jumper with 12.5 seconds left to ruin New York's night again, leading the Atlanta Hawks to victory and a 2-1 lead over the Knicks in their first-round playoff series.
The New York Knicks suffered another crushing loss on Thursday night, dropping Game 3 to the Atlanta Hawks 109-108. CJ McCollum hit a fadeaway jumper with 12.5 seconds left to ruin New York's night again, leading the Atlanta Hawks to victory and a 2-1 lead over the Knicks in their first-round playoff series.
After starring in a Game 2 stunner at Madison Square Garden, McCollum got the ball with his team trailing by a point. He came through again from 15 feet, finishing with 23 points. The Hawks led nearly the entire game, building an 18-point lead in the first half. But New York rallied for a 108-105 edge on Jalen Brunson's three-point play with 1:03 remaining.
After Jalen Johnson, who led the Hawks with 24 points, rolled in a shot, Josh Hart missed a 3-pointer for the Knicks. New York got the offensive rebound, but couldn't get off a shot ahead of the 24-second clock. The Knicks failed to get off a shot at the end, either, as Jonathan Kuminga knocked the ball away from Brunson and the horn sounded.
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 29 points, Brunson had 26 and Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in with 21. It wasn't enough for New York. McCollum picked up were he left off at Madison Square Garden, hitting a step-back jumper beyond the arc for Atlanta's first points. He had 16 by the halftime break.
McCollum showed off more than his offensive skills. After Hart scooped up a loose ball and drove toward the hoop with only the Atlanta guard to beat, McCollum blocked the shot and sent the ball off Hart's foot to give possession back to the Hawks. The Hawks outscored the Knicks 27-12 over the final seven minutes of the opening quarter, turning the game in their favor with an 11-0 spurt and closing the period with three straight 3-pointers.
The first was by little-used center Mouhamed Gueye, left wide open by the New York defense, followed by two straight from backup forward Kuminga to send the State Farm Arena crowd into a frenzy. But, with the Hawks on the verge of blowing the game open late in the first half, New York suddenly came to life. The Knicks closed the the period on a 12-2 run, cutting the deficit back into single figures.
Atlanta went to the locker room with a 58-50 lead. Referee Natalie Sago became the third woman to officiate an NBA playoff game, working alongside Marc Davis and Nick Buchert. Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below.
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