NBA playoffs: new MSG villain McCollum leads Hawks back from 12 down to stun Knicks

CJ McCollum scored 32 points and the Atlanta Hawks rallied to stun the New York Knicks 107-106 on Monday night, tying their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

McCollum led a late surge that was almost for naught when he missed two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining. The Knicks rushed the ball up the court without any timeouts left, but Mikal Bridges missed a jumper as time expired.

“It’s a long game,” McCollum said. “You’ve got to play to zero.”

The Hawks had trailed the whole second half and were down 12 after three quarters. Atlanta chipped away and a basket by McCollum gave the Hawks a 101-100 lead – their first of the series in the second half – with 2:09 to play. He made another for a three-point lead, and after Jalen Brunson tied it with a three-pointer, McCollum answered with another jumper to make it 105-103 with 33 seconds to play.

Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench and Jalen Johnson scored 17, including a basket with 10 seconds left for a four-point lead for the No 6 seeds, who host Game 3 on Thursday Brunson had 29 points for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18.

The Knicks are trying to reach the second round for a fourth straight season, their longest stretch since the 1991-92 to 1999-2000 seasons, and seemed well on their way.

“This is a game we should have won,” New York’s Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs you can’t give away games.”

The Knicks had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when leading by 12 or more after three quarters. The only loss was when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.

Towns, who had four points in the first half, scored 14 in the third quarter as the Knicks extended the lead to 78-64. They were still ahead by eight with under five minutes remaining. But their young players who sparked the Hawks’ surge after the All-Star break finally made some plays before McCollum – ignoring profane jeers after he and Jose Alvarado went nose-to-nose and were each given technical fouls in the third quarter – then closed it out.

“I’m no villain, I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife,” McCollum said when asked about his reception from the New York crowd. “I think it’s admiration. Great, passionate fans in a hostile environment. It’s fun, it’s basketball, it’s the playoffs. If anything, I think it’s a sign of respect.”

McCollum was acquired from Washington in the January trade for Trae Young, the Hawks star who was a former playoff villain at Madison Square Garden. He filled the role perfectly Monday, outplaying Brunson in the second half and stealing a game that looked lost.

In Monday’s other games, Anthony Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle added 24 and Minnesota rallied past Denver to tie their Western Conference playoff series at 1-1. Denver had won 13 straight since losing on 18 March. Elsewhere, Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, James Harden added 28 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 115-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference series.