The Atlanta Hawks outscored the Knicks by 13 points in the fourth quarter, including a 15-6 run through the final 4:46, to steal Game 2 and stun New York for Monday’s 107-106 upset at MSG.
“I think we just kept competing,” Quin Snyder said of Atlanta’s comeback. “Over the course of a game, if you don’t let up and you don’t give into that, you have an opportunity to have more success late if you just kind of hang in there. We know they’re such a good team and they’re so hard to guard offensively.
“I think our guys understand that, when they do score, you just can’t get discouraged. You just need to keep trying to raise your level. We had a hard time on the defensive glass. Those plays can really be deflating. But I thought we responded to those as well. We never quite figured it out, but we dug in in other aspects of the game.”
After CJ McCollum‘s two missed free throws with five seconds left in the fourth quarter, Josh Hart‘s rebound and pass to Mikal Bridges gave the Knicks a chance at the horn but came up short.
“The reality of it is it’s why these things are seven-game series,” said Mike Brown. “You’ve got to keep taking it one possession, one quarter, one game at a time. Atlanta did what they wanted to do — they came in here, they took one from us at home and, in my opinion, you’ve got to be able to win on the road if you expect to get where you want to go to. For us, we’ve got to win on the road.”
The Knicks commanded a 32-23 first quarter, entered halftime up 61-54 and held a largest lead of 80-66 at the third quarter’s 6:15 mark after Karl-Anthony Towns‘ tip-in layup.
“This was a game we should’ve won and, in the playoffs, you can’t give away games,” said Hart, whose 15-point, 13-rebound double-double went to waste. “So, we’ve all got to make sure we all locked in watching film of it, get better and go in and battle for Game 3.”
Starting with Thursday’s 7 p.m. Game 3, the third-seeded Knicks’ first-round series heads to Atlanta with new life for the sixth-seeded Hawks. The best-of-seven set remains in Atlanta for Saturday’s 6 p.m. Game 4 before returning to MSG next Tuesday.
“We’ve been in this situation before,” Hart said. “Obviously, everyone is frustrated with this loss and we’re going to go into Game 3 with great attention to detail and a great focus for a full 48. We’ve got high-character guys who respond well.”
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