Thumbnail: Gamba The Bard (@GambatheBard on X)
The New York Knicks fell behind 2-1 in their first-round series against the Atlanta Hawks, losing 109-108. The Knicks led by three heading into the final minute of regulation, but managed to blow it for the second straight game.
The Knicks’ horrendous fourth quarter in the prior game continued into the first quarter of this one. Their offense barely mustered 21 points, as they dug themselves a 12-point hole that they’d spend the rest of the night fighting back from.
New York couldn’t hit threes again. All but one of their 10 three-pointers came from OG Anunoby and Deuce McBride. The rest of the team shot 1/17 from deep. To make matters worse, Josh Hart only scored two points, and Mikal Bridges failed to register a single point.
Yet the Knicks came storming back anyway, thanks to Brunson and KAT’s scoring to go along with the aforementioned Deuce and OG shooting outbursts. With a minute to go, all New York needed was to protect a three-point lead. But it was a debacle. They couldn’t score and failed to stop CJ McCollum with the game on the line.
The bright spot is that Atlanta didn’t outscore New York for the last three quarters. But that’s little relief when the Knicks are trailing 2-1 anyway, with Game 4 in Atlanta again.
Let’s see where hope resides and concerns remain by reviewing the player performances.
