{"id":715455,"date":"2026-04-21T22:24:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/715455\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T22:24:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T22:24:18","slug":"steve-popper-can-this-knicks-team-get-control-of-series-in-atlanta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/715455\/","title":{"rendered":"Steve Popper: Can this Knicks team get control of series in Atlanta?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are a Knicks fan looking for something to cling to as the series shifts to Atlanta for Game 3<\/a> of the first-round playoff series, if you feel like this is the first time or the worst time that the Knicks have fallen apart in the fourth quarter, there is this.<\/p>\n

The last time\u00a0and\u00a0the only other time they\u2019d blown a lead of at least 12 points heading to the fourth quarter of a playoff game came 32 years ag\u00a0o. It was\u00a0\u00a0when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals to beat the Knicks\u00a0and break Spike Lee\u2019s heart with a choke sign that has endured for decades.<\/p>\n

But the Knicks got the last laugh, still winning the series, that fact a nice pick-me-up for the Knicks who certainly could use one as they try to figure out what went wrong Monday night.<\/a> The Knicks, now tied 1-1 in the best-of-seven series, squandered the home-court advantage when they did, well, just about everything wrong down the stretch.<\/p>\n

CJ McCollum, a far friendlier version of a villain than Miller, arrived in this series and did the Knicks in on the scoreboard, but really, it was a self-inflicted choke job on this night. They got away with it in Game 1 when a 19-point lead almost disappeared with lackadaisical play down the stretch, but\u00a0they couldn\u2019t survive it Monday.<\/a><\/p>\n

When the Knicks were preparing for this series, the first playoff test under Mike Brown, he was asked if he felt the pressure that was on him since he took over for Tom Thibodeau, who had brought the Knicks from a dysfunctional mess to the Eastern Conference finals last season. Thibodeau still was fired and combined with the words of Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan insisting that he believed the team absolutely should reach the NBA Finals, it would seem to cause Brown\u2019s collar to tighten.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, you feel the game is different than a regular-season game,\u201d Brown said. \u201cI always think that pressure is a privilege. The more work you put into it the more prepared you are. But always the thought process is: any time there is any type of pressure, it should be embraced. I\u2019d rather have that than not be in a pressure situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re tempted to remind him, you asked for it. You wanted pressure, you\u2019ve got it. But he probably already has a good idea even if he rarely shows it outwardly.<\/p>\n

Brown has found himself questioned for a number of decisions in the Game 2 collapse. Some of the critiques are understandable. With a chance to go up two games to none, entering the fourth quarter with both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench but against an athletic and high-pressure Hawks\u2019 defense not having a true point guard like Brunson or a go-to scorer to play through like Towns, the Knicks offense stalled.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve played that line up quite a bit since the end of the season,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThat lineup has been pretty good. We weren\u2019t good tonight and we turned the ball over a few too many times during that period. We had opportunities with our starters where we were up eight to 10 and Atlanta closed it so I wouldn\u2019t just say that specific lineup caused it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I do know is the time we were off the court isn\u2019t when we lost,\u201d Towns said. \u201cIt was the time when we were on the court at the end and when they found ways to make shots. it\u2019s on us as starters, me and JB to make it tough.\u201d<\/p>\n

And you can debate Brown\u2019s use of timeouts that left him with none when Josh Hart grabbed a rebound with about five seconds remaining and the Knicks down one. It forced them to rush it up the floor and get a shot from Mikal Bridges that bounced off the rim. In a perfect world Brown calls a timeout there and the Knicks get a clutch shot from Brunson or Towns. But that also would have risked, if they had a timeout, that Atlanta sets its defense, forces Brunson to give the ball up in a double-team and hand someone a grenade with one second left to get off a game-deciding shot.<\/p>\n

The reality is that the Knicks lost this game not by\u00a0decisions as much as performance. The second unit struggled, turning the ball over repeatedly after extending the lead in the fourth quarter in Game 1. Towns had just 12 shots \u2014 and three of them came on offensive rebounds he grabbed off\u00a0teammates’ misfires.<\/p>\n

Brunson has not figured out the Hawks\u2019 defense since the first quarter of Game 1,\u00a0shooting 1-for-11 after that in Game 1 and then just 10-for-26 in Game 2. Perhaps it\u2019s just coincidence that Tuesday night the NBA\u2019s Clutch Player of the Year winner was announced. After winning it last season, Brunson wasn\u2019t even among this season’s\u00a0finalists. On the other end, the Hawks have hunted him repeatedly,\u00a0including McCollum connecting on 5-for-6 shots with Brunson as the primary defender.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were a little stagnant,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cObviously, I can control what I can control. And so, poor decision-making on my part. A couple of possessions they played great defense and knocked the ball out of my hands. We just have to play better with the lead. That\u2019s twice in the fourth quarter we\u2019ve done that.<\/p>\n

When Miller lit them up the fourth quarter in 1994, the Knicks came back and won the next two games. The question isn\u2019t how they blew the lead this time as much as do they have what that team had back then:\u00a0the fight to fix the issues and take over the series again.<\/p>\n

KNICKS VS. HAWKS SCHEDULE<\/p>\n

Game 1: Knicks 113, Hawks 102<\/a><\/p>\n

Game 2: Hawks 107, Knicks 106<\/a><\/p>\n

Game 3:<\/a> New York at Atlanta, Thursday at 7 p.m. on Prime Video<\/a><\/p>\n

Game 4: New York at Atlanta, Saturday at 6 p.m. on NBC<\/a><\/p>\n

Game 5: Atlanta at New York, Tuesday, April 28<\/p>\n

Game 6: New York at Atlanta, Thursday, April 30*<\/p>\n

Game 7: Atlanta at New York, Saturday, May 2*<\/p>\n

* if necessary<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

\n\tSteve 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If you are a Knicks fan looking for something to cling to as the series shifts to Atlanta…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":715456,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,6,191,89106],"class_list":{"0":"post-715455","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-new-york-knicks","15":"tag-spenterprise"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116445044861356999","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=715455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/715455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/715456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=715455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=715455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=715455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}