Hawks 109, Knicks 108: “this Team Is Not Serious People”

Maybe the Knicks (1-2) had no business winning this game against the Hawks (2-1). After sleepwalking through a miserable first quarter and falling behind by 18 in the second, they entered halftime down by eight, matched Atlanta’s thirty points in the third quarter, and finally seemed interested in victory late in the fourth quarter. Too little, too late. They finally managed to grab a three-point lead with a minute left, but they were fittingly outdone by CJ McCollum and yet another turnover during the final possession. Final score: 109-108.

In Game Three of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Knicks won the paint (56 points to 40) and held their own on the glass (46-45), but it didn’t matter—they lost the game on efficiency. Atlanta shot better (45%-43%), hit threes at a much higher clip (39% to 29%), and turned New York’s 18 turnovers into easy points. Karl-Anthony Towns did his part, scoring 21 points and 17 rebounds, with a team-high +22 plus-minus; and Brunson logged 26 points on 11-of-23 shooting.

But there are plenty of candidates for scapegoat of the game, from the coach (once again taking too long to get Brunson and KAT working together effectively); Mikal Bridges tried three shots and scored zero points; Mitchell Robinson was a -18 in his 11 minutes, grabbing just four boards; and Josh Hart scored just two points on 1-of-9 shooting. Look at all this red:

Funky, clunky start. Through the first six minutes of this contest, the Birds made four of ten field goal attempts, while the Bockers made four of 12. The Knicks briefly held the lead, but promptly fell behind 13-9 by the midway point. Miles McBride (15 PTS, 5-10 3PT, 31 MIN) and Mitchell Robinson were the first substitutions. There was no improvement to report.

The visitors looked clueless—nay, feckless—shooting around 25% while watching the home team pad their lead. Only two of their players (Anunoby and Brunson) scored in the period (seriously); Karl-Anthony Towns had attempted one shot (and missed); and the team had committed five turnovers already. They attempted zero free throws until around 1:30, when Jalen Brunson stepped to the line. Not only did they appear unable to work together, but they seemed rather apathetic about it, too.

Meanwhile, the Hawks clicked into the next gear. They pushed their lead to 11 with around two minutes on the clock and finished the quarter with a 24-9 run. They were beating New York on the boards and moving the ball expertly, assisting on 10 of their 12 made field goals. Off the bench, Jonathan Kuminga (21 PTS, 28 MIN) was a perfect 4-of-4 with 10 points at the quarter’s end. On the other hand, New York couldn’t buy a three-pointer, missing 10 of their 12 attempts. Our heroes scored only 15 points in the final 12 minutes on Monday. Picking up where they left off—which is, in the mud—they managed just 21 in the first quarter. When the bell rang, the good guys were trailing 33-21.

Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson (8 PTS, 4-11 FG, 17 MIN) reported for duty to start the second quarter, but New York’s bench continued to be outscored by Atlanta’s. Encouraging sign: with Brunson taking a blow, Towns finally got on the board with a driving dunk, and after he cashed in two more close-range buckets, the deficit had been cut from 15 to 10 around the middle period. The big fella had made 4-of-5 from the field, while Brunson had shot 5-of-11.

Out of a timeout, McCollum hit a 15-foot turnaround jumper, then Onyeka Okongwu (9 PTS, 7 RBS) stole a Bridges pass for a pick-six, and so much for the momentum. Stan Van Gundy’s yapped about how he would just run pick-and-roll with Towns and Brunson, and we hoped he was sitting close enough for Mike Brown to hear him. With New York shooting 13% (2-of-15) from deep and CJ McCollum (23 PTS, 8-19 FG) operating at another level, the hole reached an ugly 18 points. Edkamlive said it after the game, but it’s just as apt to insert here: “This team is not serious people.”

From there, Towns, Clarkson, and McBride all combined for a 9-0 run, while the Hawks missed five shots. Thanks to their efforts—especially Clarkson—New York was only trailing 58-50 heading into intermission.

After a lackluster first quarter, New York finished the half with better interior numbers. They had won the points in the paint, 32-16, and the glass 24-22. The problem was all in the shooting. Atlanta shot nearly twice as well from three (44% to 21%) and lived at the line (16 attempts to New York’s 5). McCollum, shooting a tidy 6-of-10, led all scorers with 16. Brunson had 13 for the visitors, while Josh Hart and Mikal Bridges had combined to shoot 0-of-6 for no points.

The Knicks scored first out of halftime (a driving dunk by KAT), but then allowed Atlanta to rattled off an 11-2 run. Barely two minutes had passed and Brown needed a timeout to discuss all the things they probably should have discussed in the locker room. The coach replaced Bridges (a team-worst -22) with McBride, and unusual early substitution but the desperate situation called for a touch of inventiveness.

Deuce wasn’t the answer, though, and it came as no great surprise, given that the guy’s only shot 22% in the series so far. Van Gundy was right. The path to taking command of this match-up would be forged by Brunson and Towns. To wit: With Towns and Brunson stepping forward into prominent roles, an 11-0 run to cut the deficit to four.

Quin Snyder’s response was to dial up plays for Nickeil Alexander-Walker (14 PTS, 4-12 FG) and Jalen Johnson (24 PTS, 10 RBS, 8 AST), who pushed the lead to nine again with a triple and drives to the cupl, respectively. Brown decided to go small, subbing in Hart for Towns and going small, making Anunoby the tallest Knick in the fray.

Back-to-back turnovers by Brunson and McBride cost them. Down by 13 again, Brown sent Towns back in for Clarkson around the two minute mark. Since only KAT, Brunson, and Anunoby scored anything in the third period, it was a no-brainer to get Karl back in there. When the quarter finished, both teams had scored 30 points. Hawks up, 88-80.

Into the final frame, the Knicks continued to have opportunities, but blew them with one-and-dones and turnovers. Rather than uniting to mount a rally, their disjointed play continued, and they sat 10 points down with a scant nine minutes left. Brown prefers to let Brunson rest early in the quarter, but sent Captain Clutch back in, hoping to ignite something. McBride hit a triple, Johnson did the same, and the two teams continued to cancel each other out.

Brown also elected to glue Bridges to the bench in the fourth, putting his chips on McBride instead. When McBride swished his second trey of the quarter, our heroes were finally within four points again. Seven minutes left.

The clouds were parting in Georgia, and a sliver of sunlight was peeking through. With four minutes left, Towns was stuffed by Johnson, but Anunoby chased down the loose ball and heaved from the corner to make it 101-99.

Yet again, CJ McCollum hit a midrange dagger, but OG responded with another triple, then McBride hit one, and it was tied at 105 with a little over a minute left. Towns blocked a McCollum reverse drive, and Cap cooked at the other end with an and-one drive. Knicks finally lead, 108-105, with under one minute left.

Towns blocked Johnson at the other end, but the Hawk managed a put-back to make it a one-point game with 53 seconds to go. Coming out of Quin Snyder’s time out, McCollum burned just three seconds to sink a 15-footer. The Peaches were ahead again by one. 12.5 seconds.

For the final possession, Bridges was back in to inbound the ball, but he couldn’t reach Brunson. When it finally did, he drove into a double-team along the baseline. Cap tried to pass the rock to Hart trailing in the paint, but it caught Josh off-guard, Kuminga chased it down, and that was the ballgame, 109-108.

Up Next

These two square off again in Game Four on Saturday. Rest up, Knickerbockers.

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