biggest Knicks villain this series<\/a>, yet again who twisted the knife into the Knicks\u2019 hearts. After going quiet in the second half, he drilled the go-ahead bucket with 12.7 seconds left. It has been McCollum, not Brunson, who has owned this series.<\/p>\n![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7891840857192285c3bf69a2da224e23.jpeg\"\/)
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Jalen Brunson turned the ball over in the final seconds to seal the Knicks\u2019 loss. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
\u201cThis should sting,\u201d coach Mike Brown said after the game. \u201cBecause we gave ourselves a chance, knowing that we didn\u2019t play our best basketball, so it should sting.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to feel it and get ready to be locked in for the next game, which we will be.\u201d<\/p>\n
OG Anunoby hit a 3-pointer with 3:50 left to cut the Knicks\u2019 deficit to just two points. He soon after hit another 3-pointer to cut the deficit to one point. Miles McBride \u2014 on the floor in place of the benched Mikal Bridges \u2014 hit a 3-pointer to tie the game with 1:41 left.<\/p>\n
Brunson\u2019s and-1 gave the Knicks a 3-point lead with 52.6 seconds left. He then had a chance to ice the game on the next\u00a0and penultimate possession, but air-balled\u00a0after the offense broke down\u00a0with 16.4 seconds left. Then came McCollum\u2019s dagger.\u00a0Then came Brunson\u2019s game-ending turnover.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I had a better answer for you,\u201d Brunson said when asked to explain the last two possessions. \u201cI got nothing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson (1) goes up for a shot between New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and New York Knicks forward OG Anunoby. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
In truth, it wasn\u2019t just Brunson who came up empty. The Knicks as a whole came up empty.<\/p>\n
They shot just 43.0 percent from the field and a paltry 28.6 percent from 3-point range. They committed 18 turnovers. In the first half, they were unable to slow down the Hawks defensively.<\/p>\n
Brunson finished with 26 points, but he was overburdened, missed all five of his 3-pointers and had three turnovers. He was also torched by McCollum again, forcing the Knicks to switch their coverage. McCollum had 16 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field in the first half. It was Hart, who switched onto McCollum in the second half, who managed to slow him down.<\/p>\n
Until the final moments, at least.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts more that we put ourselves in position to win but we just didn\u2019t close the show,\u201d Karl-Anthony Towns said. \u201cI think that\u2019s why everyone is emotional. It\u2019s tough, but we\u2019ve got to keep our heads up. It\u2019s OK to be disappointed. That means we care. We\u2019ve got to get the next one.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Bridges\u2019 growing list of lowlights, this was right at the top. He went scoreless, having missed all three shots he took, and committed four turnovers. He was a game-worst minus-26.<\/p>\n
And he was benched twice \u2014 in the third quarter and the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
Hart, other than his good defense, had nine rebounds and six assists. But he had just two points and was 1-for-9 from the field.<\/p>\n
Towns and Anunoby were the only starters with steady offensive production. McBride hit five threes off the bench.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now,\u201d Hart said, \u201cthere\u2019s no room to feel sorry for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jalen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/42b9f6f0f45c6f756bd5cb7ca6977f14.jpeg\"\/)
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Jalen Brunson (11) reacts on the court during the third quarter. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
After the Knicks fell behind with 5:59 left in the first quarter, they trailed until McBride tied the game with 1:41 left\u00a0in the game.\u00a0Their deficit reached as much as 18 points.\u00a0For the vast majority, it was one-sided. The late comeback should not mask the larger issues the Knicks are having in this matchup.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things throughout the game that myself can be better at,\u201d Brunson said. \u201cMissed opportunity for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hart held his head in a towel in the locker room after the game. Towns held his head in his hands, staring at the floor. Brunson, at the podium, searched for answers.<\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/c8d4d6bfd00f9656faffd18434a2b84a.jpeg\"\/)
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New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) goes up for a shot in front of Atlanta Hawks guard Dyson Daniels (5) during the third quarter. Charles Wenzelberg \/ New York Post<\/p>\n
Ring the alarm bells. Hit the panic button.<\/p>\n
The Knicks might not yet be on the ropes. But they\u2019re certainly reeling.<\/p>\n
And now they\u2019re firmly on the back foot.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Knicks lose ATLANTA \u2014 Jalen Brunson had the ball in his hands with a chance to win. Captain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":716999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3768],"tags":[7,14200,7046,206,677,288,2990,867,327,563,304,1260,2715,6,1136,191,1920,3810,3806,379,741,493],"class_list":{"0":"post-716998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-knicks","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charles-wenzelberg","10":"tag-cj-mccollum","11":"tag-dyson-daniels","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-jalen-brunson","14":"tag-jalen-johnson","15":"tag-jonathan-kuminga","16":"tag-josh-hart","17":"tag-karl-anthony-towns","18":"tag-knicks","19":"tag-mikal-bridges","20":"tag-miles-mcbride","21":"tag-nba","22":"tag-new-york","23":"tag-new-york-knicks","24":"tag-new-york-post","25":"tag-newyork","26":"tag-newyorkknicks","27":"tag-nickeil-alexander-walker","28":"tag-og-anunoby","29":"tag-onyeka-okongwu"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116458257040702037","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716998","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=716998"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/716998\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/716999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=716998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=716998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=716998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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