{"id":716431,"date":"2026-04-23T05:13:02","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:13:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716431\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:13:02","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:13:02","slug":"cj-mccollum-hawks-erupt-in-fourth-quarter-to-stun-knicks-and-even-series-1-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/716431\/","title":{"rendered":"CJ McCollum, Hawks erupt in fourth quarter to stun Knicks and even series 1-1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, CJ McCollum<\/a> and the Atlanta Hawks<\/a> are headed home with an even series after all.<\/p>\n

The Hawks, despite trailing by double-digits in the fourth quarter, absolutely shut down the New York Knicks<\/a> in the final period to grab a 107-106 win in Game 2<\/a> of their opening-round playoff series. That tied things up 1-1 as the series shifts to Atlanta on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Knicks managed only 15 points in the fourth quarter, and went 5-of-19 from the field in the last 12 minutes.<\/p>\n

Knicks collapse in the fourth quarter<\/p>\n

While it was never a blowout, the Knicks looked like they were in full control of the contest after three quarters.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s when everything came to a screeching halt.<\/p>\n

The Hawks, who entered the final period down by 12, opened the fourth quarter on a 20-9 tear while shutting the Knicks down almost completely. Eventually, it was McCollum who put the Hawks back in the lead for the first time since early in the second quarter with a layup with about two minutes left on the clock.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just here to compete. I compete at the highest level,\u201d McCollum, who was traded to the Hawks in January in the blockbuster deal that moved Trae Young<\/a> to the Washington Wizards<\/a>, said on NBC. \u201cWe know it\u2019s not a series until you get one on the road, and we got one. So, now it\u2019s showtime when we get back to the crib.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCollum scored six of the Hawks\u2019 final eight points of the night, including a perfect fadeaway bucket over OG Anunoby<\/a> in the short corner that just about sealed the win on its own.<\/p>\n

Nickeil Alexander-Walker<\/a> then blocked Jalen Brunson<\/a> on the other end and found Jalen Johnson<\/a> on a fast break to suddenly give the Hawks a two-possession lead.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Brunson did hit a 3-pointer after that, and Mikal Bridges<\/a> had a shot at a game-winner after McCollum missed two shots at the line, but Bridges was off the mark. That officially gave the Hawks the stunning one-point win.<\/p>\n

McCollum had a game-high 32 points and six assists. Those final two free throws were the only ones he missed in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta make my free throws. I\u2019ll get in the gym on Wednesday and make sure I tighten up,\u201d he said on NBC. \u201cAnd we\u2019ll be ready to go in the \u2018A\u2019 like we\u2019re supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brunson led the Knicks with 29 points and seven assists. Josh Hart<\/a> finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Karl-Anthony Towns<\/a> added 18 points and eight rebounds.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

The Knicks\u2019 collapse was similar, but worse, than what happened in the final minutes of Game 1 on Saturday, too. The Knicks held a 19-point lead just past the midway point of the fourth quarter in that contest before giving up an 11-0 run to allow the Hawks back within single digits in the final minute. Had that run happened just a few minutes sooner, Atlanta may have been able to pull the comeback off that day, too.<\/p>\n

Regardless, the series is all square entering Thursday night\u2019s game at State Farm Arena. If the Knicks can\u2019t find a way to finish these contests in the fourth quarter and respond on the road quickly, they could be on the verge of an early playoff exit. After last season\u2019s deep postseason run and the coaching change that followed, that would be viewed as a major disappointment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Well, CJ McCollum and the Atlanta Hawks are headed home with an even series after all. The Hawks,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[208,7,7046,288,2990,327,563,304,1260,6,11,379,741,89308,5291,494,468],"class_list":{"0":"post-716431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-playoffs","8":"tag-atlanta-hawks","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-cj-mccollum","11":"tag-jalen-brunson","12":"tag-jalen-johnson","13":"tag-josh-hart","14":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","15":"tag-knicks","16":"tag-mikal-bridges","17":"tag-nba","18":"tag-nba-playoffs","19":"tag-nickeil-alexander-walker","20":"tag-og-anunoby","21":"tag-the-fourth-quarter","22":"tag-the-hawks","23":"tag-trae-young","24":"tag-washington-wizards"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116452314588310364","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716431","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=716431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}