Dyson Daniels’ Atlanta Hawks have pulled off a miracle at Madison Square Garden, with CJ McCollum steering the team to victory and level their NBA playoff series against New York.
The visitors looked down and out and the Knicks fans ready to party heading into the final quarter, but McCollum silenced the sell-out crowd with 12 points to help Atlanta to a shock 107-106 win.
The victory puts the No.6-seeded Hawks in the box seat with the next two matches in the seven-game Eastern Conference series in Atlanta, with game three on Thursday (Friday AEST).
McCollum made three big baskets in the game’s final 2:08 minutes – including a go-ahead jumper – to bring his tally to a game-high 32 points with the fiesty guard out-playing his opposite, Knicks skipper Jalen Brunson.
Boomers star Daniels hardly featured in the last quarter and was again quiet offensively with six points and two assists, as well as four rebounds.
Late in the first period Daniels got tangled up with Mitchell Robinson, with the New York centre receiving a technical foul for “walking over” the top of the Australian on the ground, with Daniels jumping up to start a scuffle.
Daniels’ wasn’t alone in his offensive challenges with Atlanta superstar Jalen Johnson restricted to just four points in the opening half, with Knicks veteran Josh Hart keeping him on a tight leash.
But Johnson delivered when it mattered most, slamming a crucial running dunk for a 107-103 lead among his haul total of 17 points.
The Hawks were off the pace for much of the match, trailing 91-79 going into the last quarter, although they briefly held the lead 36-35 during the second term.
That was the last time they were in front before regaining the lead with McCollum’s score with just over two minutes remaining for a 101-100 lead.
He made another bucket and after Brunson tied it with a three-pointer, McCollum answered with another jumper to make it 105-103 with 33 seconds to play.
McCollum missed two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining and the Knicks rushed the ball up the court without any timeouts left, but Mikal Bridges missed a jumper as time expired.
Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench for Atlanta, while Brunson had 29 points for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18.
In the day’s early game, the Cavaliers went 2-0 up in their series against Toronto thanks to a 115-105 win in Cleveland.
