ATLANTA
The lead had faded and the heroics of Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns, who had carried the Knicks all night, finally were failing, all a side note if the Knicks couldn’t hold on against the reeling Atlanta Hawks.
And across the way there was Trae Young with the ball in his hands, a sight cold enough to send shivers up the spine of any Knicks fan.
And it was then that OG Anunoby, who had struggled for much of the night, stepped forward, doing the sort of things that only a rare few defenders in the NBA can do.
Anunoby — who had just pulled down an offensive rebound and hit two free throws with 29.6 seconds left to give the Knicks a one-point lead — stole the ball from Young near midcourt with 9.9 seconds remaining as the Hawks tried to set up a potential go-ahead basket. Anunoby was fouled, swished two more free throws and rebounded Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s potential tying three-pointer at the buzzer as the Knicks sealed a 128-125 win.
Saturday night’s win offered more evidence that for moments, for nights, the Knicks (22-9) have shown that all sorts of players can step forward.
On this night it was Towns with 36 points and 16 rebounds. It was Brunson with 34 points and so many clutch buckets when the Knicks needed them. It even was Kevin McCullar Jr. stepping into the spotlight for the first time with 13 points and eight rebounds.
And when they needed him most, it was Anunoby, who had 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals. He shot just 3-for-10 but hit all seven of his free throws and stifled the dangerous Jalen Johnson and Young for much of the night.
“It’s a team game, so we need the whole team to impact winning,” Towns said. “And I think everybody did that tonight. And down the list you can bring up everyone was really special when we really needed them to be, especially OG. He gets that big steal and makes all his clutch free throws, puts a lot of pressure on them to make plays. You call it help. I call it a team game and everybody showed up to get this win tonight.”
“That’s what having a team is about,” coach Mike Brown said. “I feel confident in all our guys, Deuce [McBride] has been out for a while, Landry [Shamet] has been out, so we’ve got to go to the next man. Josh [Hart] is out now with the ankle, so we’ve got to go to the next man.
“We just want guys to give us what they’re capable of. We don’t want them to go outside their box, but we just want them to give us hard minutes the time that they’re on the floor. I thought all our guys did.”
The Knicks had seen an 85-67 lead disappear, and a pair of free throws by Young with 4:25 to play pulled the Hawks (15-18) within 114-113. But Tyler Kolek fed Anunoby in the corner and he drove in for a tough layup, drawing a foul and converting the three-point play for a four-point lead.
The lead was down to one again when Brunson drained a jumper in the lane, but a basket by Dyson Daniels and a three-pointer by Onyeka Okongwu (31 points, 14 rebounds) gave Atlanta a 121-119 lead with two minutes left. Brunson delivered again, scoring inside to tie it.
After Young misfired, Brunson sank a three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:17 to play and the Knicks led 124-121. After Young’s two free throws brought Atlanta within one, Brunson had the ball stolen by Alexander-Walker, who drove for a fast-break layup to give the Hawks the lead with 49.2 seconds left.
Brunson then misfired in the lane, but Anunoby grabbed the rebound and was fouled. His two free throws with 29.6 seconds left put the Knicks in front for good.
Playing their first game of the three-game road trip without Hart, who will miss the entire trip, the Knicks gave Mo Diawara the start, but it was the performance off the bench by McCullar that came close to replicating what the Knicks were missing without Hart.
After the Hawks cut their 18-point deficit to six in the third quarter, McCullar scored five straight points to lift his total for the night to 13 — four more than he had in his NBA career entering the night. With that boost off of the bench, the Knicks took a 98-89 lead into the fourth quarter.
“The way they came in and played is what we needed,” Brunson said. “It was great attention to detail. The way they played was great. Just came in and did their jobs — actually they did more than their jobs. They played really well. So kudos to them.”
Notes & quotes: Shamet (sprained right shoulder) was reevaluated and is doing full on-court basketball activities, according to a league source, progressing well and working his way to contact. Hart, who suffered a sprained right ankle in the fourth quarter Thursday, did not make the three-game road trip and is being evaluated, with an update expected after the trip.
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.