The New York Knicks had the lead. They had the momentum. And then CJ McCollum had the ball for the Atlanta Hawks.
With 12.5 seconds left and Atlanta trailing by one, McCollum rose for a fadeaway jumper from 15 feet—and buried it. Hawks 109, Knicks 108. The same player who had already haunted New York in Game 2 at Madison Square Garden did it again in Game 3 at State Farm Arena on Friday, giving Atlanta a 2-1 series lead that nobody saw coming when this first round began.
McCollum finished with 23 points. More importantly, he finished with the shot that mattered.
How the Hawks Built—and Nearly Gave Away—Their Lead
The Hawks controlled this game for most of the night. They led nearly wire to wire, building an 18-point cushion in the first half on the back of a dominant first quarter that saw them outscore New York 27-12 over the final seven minutes. An 11-0 run that featured three consecutive three-pointers—starting with little-used centre Mouhamed Gueye left inexplicably wide open, followed by two from Jonathan Kuminga off the bench—sent the State Farm Arena crowd into a frenzy and seemed to put the game out of reach.
It did not. New York closed the half on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 58–50 at the break, and the Knicks never fully went away.
The third quarter remained contested, and by the fourth, New York had clawed all the way back. Jalen Brunson’s three-point play with 1:03 remaining gave the Knicks a 108–105 edge—and the game, for a moment, looked like it was theirs to close.
Then Jalen Johnson, who led Atlanta with 24 points, rolled in a basket to cut it to one. Josh Hart missed a three-pointer for New York. The Knicks grabbed the offensive rebound but could not get a shot away before the shot clock expired. When the final possession came, Brunson turned it over and the horn sounded.
Atlanta had survived—and McCollum had delivered… again.
The Numbers That Did Not Save the Knicks
OG Anunoby had 29 points for the Knicks. Brunson added 26. Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 21. On paper, it should have been enough. On the night, it was not—because Kuminga’s 21 points off the bench complemented McCollum and Johnson’s efforts in a way that New York’s supporting cast could not match when it counted.
Knicks coach Mike Brown was direct about his team’s failures in the closing minutes while also registering his frustration with the officiating.
“You couldn’t ask for anything better than that,” Brown said of the late-game situation his team was handed. “Less than a minute to go in the game and a chance to go up by three.” They did not convert it. “They’re closing out hard,” he added of the Hawks. “I know we got fouled on a few of the tries that didn’t get called.”
Hawks coach Quin Snyder framed McCollum’s shot—and the series—in terms of the collective rather than the individual. “They work, they share,” he said. “That’s the thing about this group that I’ve enjoyed so much.”
Where This Series Stands
A team that went 20-6 after the All-Star break is now up 2-1 against the No. 3 seed in the East, with the next game still in Atlanta on Saturday. McCollum has delivered the two biggest shots of the series. The Knicks have three players putting up 20-plus points and are still losing.
Game 4 is Saturday in Atlanta. New York needs it badly.
