CJ McCollum is filling the precise function the Atlanta Hawks had in thoughts after they acquired him in January. The veteran is just not solely scoring loads of factors, however he is additionally offering an skilled presence for a younger group.
McCollum scored 32 factors on Tuesday to spark Atlanta’s fourth-quarter comeback and 107-106 highway win in opposition to the New York Knicks. The finest-of-seven first-spherical sequence is tied 1-1 and shifts to Atlanta on Thursday for Game 3.
“I really liked CJ’s leadership as much as the shot making,” Hawks coach Quin Snyder stated. “CJ’s leadership was really good with the ball in his hands.”
The Knicks had been 40-1 within the postseason for the reason that creation of the shot clock in 1954-55 when main by 12 or extra factors after three quarters. The solely loss was when Reggie Miller scored 25 factors within the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.
“It’s something that we’ve talked about over the course of the last couple of months,” Snyder stated. “It’s a different type of leadership in my mind than he’s had at other times, because he’s got to find a balance of communicating and talking to the guys but still not losing his aggressiveness scoring the basketball.”
The gentle-mannered McCollum additionally stepped into an unfamiliar function as villain. The crowd at Madison Square Garden, turned their vitriol — previously directed at ex-Hawk Trae Young — towards McCollum. He simply shrugged it off.
“I ain’t no villain, I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife,” McCollum stated. “I think it’s admiration. Great passionate fans in a really hostile environment. It’s fun, it’s basketball, it’s the playoffs.”
The Knicks misplaced the sport regardless of 29 factors from Jalen Brunson. He scored 10 of the group’s 15 fourth-quarter factors when New York shot simply 5-for-22 from the ground.
“We got the ball in the right people’s hands down the stretch and we didn’t convert,” New York coach Mike Brown stated.
Brunson has been excellent in each video games. He scored 28 within the sequence opener. But Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 25 within the first sport, scored solely 18 — and none within the fourth quarter in Game 2. Brown blamed 14 turnovers, which led to 18 Atlanta factors, and taking pictures 63 p.c (17-for-27) on the line.
“At the end of the day we’ve got to lock in at the free-throw line, and we’ve got to take care of the ball,” Brown stated. “And in that fourth quarter you could tell they were playing with a level of desperation. They got three of four 50-50 balls in the fourth quarter, which is what we use to measure the level of aggression in a game. In that fourth quarter their aggression stepped up.”
The competitors between the groups has been shut all season. New York gained the primary playoff sport 113-102, essentially the most lopsided rating this yr. The Knicks gained two of the three common-season video games by three factors, whereas Atlanta had a two-level win.
“Atlanta did what they wanted to do. They came in here and took one from us at home,” Brown stated. “In my opinion, you’ve got to be able to win on the road if you expect to get where you want to do. So, for us, we’ve got to go win on the road.”
–Field Level Media
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