Knicks fans after the fourth quarter of Game 2:

'You just can't give games away:' How the Knicks collapsed against the Hawks — and what they need to clean up New York heads to Atlanta for Game 3 with a long to-do list and the series suddenly tied 1-1.

At Y! Sports: I wrote about the anatomy of a collapse. yhoo.it/3QTSfyD

NBA playoffs 2026 takeaways: MSG has a new villain in CJ McCollum after Hawks shock Knicks The key elements from Atlanta's stunning Game 2 comeback victory.

At Y! Sports: Live from MSG, I wrote about the Hawks' Game 2 stunner -- about Atlanta finding new depth, the clutch kings spitting the bit, and the arrival of a new object of New Yorkers' unbridled ... sure, let's call it "affection." yhoo.it/4cHtI7j

I only know today is Tuesday because our producer just texted us about topics for THE BIG NUMBER, which we record on Wednesday

Incredible how quickly I arrive at the point in the playoffs where I'm not sure if the headache should be attributed to dehydration, too little coffee, too *much* coffee, too little sleep or too much staring at a screen to write. Probably a healthy, good-for-me set of behaviors.

NBA playoffs 2026 takeaways: MSG has a new villain in CJ McCollum after Hawks shock Knicks The key elements from Atlanta's stunning Game 2 comeback victory.

At Y! Sports: Live from MSG, I wrote about the Hawks' Game 2 stunner -- about Atlanta finding new depth, the clutch kings spitting the bit, and the arrival of a new object of New Yorkers' unbridled ... sure, let's call it "affection." yhoo.it/4cHtI7j

Brown sticks with no-Brunson/no-KAT to start 4Q, but juggles it — now two starters (Bridges with OG) and Alvarado in to handle the ball alongside Robinson and Deuce McBride. Results still shaky, though: a turnover, a missed 3, a pair of Hawks buckets, and the lead's down to 9.

For the Hawks, it's basically CJ McCollum and some Onyeka Okongwu trail 3s against the world right now. Atlanta's 9-for-19 (47.4%) inside the arc, and has gotten just 10 points on 2-for-11 shooting from Jalen Johnson and Nickeil Alexander-Walker combined.

The Knicks had six offensive rebounds in Game 1; they already have seven leading to 16 second-chance points at halftime of Game 2, with Mitchell Robinson chipping in three offensive boards and 11 points in 10 minutes off the New York bench.

Three personal fouls on Dyson Daniels, Josh Hart at the line for two, and I hope we've all enjoyed this brief siesta from basketball.

So Secaucus reviewed the foul call on Dyson Daniels hitting his right arm/shoulder into Josh Hart on a screen to see if it was flagrant, and the Hawks challenged to see if it was a foul at all.

After much reviewing, original foul stands, no flagrant, Hawks lose their challenge.

After a let's-calm-everything-down minute and a half for Alvarado that saw the Knicks get a couple of baskets, New York's back up by five and Brunson, KAT and Bridges are back in the game. So I guess Brown got away with it again after all.

After another bad giveaway, leading to another runout dunk to give the Hawks the lead, Mike Brown sends Jose Alvarado in to handle the ball and get the Knicks offense organized. He immediately draws a loose-ball foul to get the Knicks a possession.

After bench lineups with no Brunson/KAT held up to start the second/fourth quarters in Game 1, Knicks go back to it to start the second of Game 2 ... and it hasn't gone great. 11-3 run for Atlanta, capped by a pick-six dunk for CJ McCollum, and the Knick lead's down to 1, 35-34.

32-23 Knicks after 1. 20-6 edge in points in the paint for New York, who got pretty much whatever they wanted on offense.

After a quiet Game 1, Mitchell Robinson's been loud early: 6 points, 4 rebounds (two offensive) and a scuffle with Dyson Daniels in a very busy 4.5 minutes.

Nine points in 13 possessions for the Hawks, who have as many turnovers as made shots (3) thus far. They're trying to push the ball off makes and misses, which Quin Snyder's been calling for, but they've been erratic — thanks partly to the Knicks' ball pressure.

I'm in the arena covering a Knicks playoff game without having to pay for it, they can put me inside the T-shirt cannon

Fantastic start for Josh Hart — great ball pressure on Jalen Johnson, good help defense to stall a CJ McCollum drive, a pair of hard drives for baskets, a nice floater over Okongwu, an offensive rebound leading to a reset, an extra pass to feed Bridges for 3.

Hawks come out with Daniels on KAT, Okongwu on Hart, NAW on Brunson from the first possession.

This place gets very, very loud for Jalen Brunson.

QUESTION RE: HACK-A-MITCH — ANY THOUGHT TO CHANGING HIS ROTATION, GETTING HIM IN EARLIER IN THE FIRST AND THIRD? Yeah, we’ll probably just use him in the normal rotation, and at the end of the day, he’s going to get an opportunity, and we’re confident that he’ll knock them down. If we need to make a change, we feel confident in Josh going and playing the center. Especially, the way we’re playing, it allows us to switch pick-and-rolls and all that other stuff. We’re OK with them fouling Mitch, if that’s what they want to do.

Interesting thing from Mike Brown's pregame presser: In answering @fredkatz.bsky.social's question about how he'd approach Mitchell Robinson's minutes/the specter of Hack-a-Mitch, he said that if the Knicks need to go small, "we feel confident in Josh [Hart] going and playing the center."

NBA playoffs 2026: Can the Knicks rely on Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns two-man attack in Game 2? The Hawks had their fair share of problems with it in New York's Game 1 win, but NBA playoff series are marked by adjustments and counters. What can the Hawks do to stem the tide?

At Y! Sports: Ahead of Knicks-Hawks Game 2, I wrote about:

• The Brunson-KAT two-man game, and Atlanta's adjustment to it;

• New York clipping the Hawks' wings;

• And one big health question looming over Monday night: yhoo.it/4vHCgnc

The Hawks have announced that Onyeka Okongwu (right knee inflammation) is available tonight. It'll be interesting to see how he looks, and if he's good to go full tilt.

... and if someone asked you to highlight the biggest concern about this Knicks offense heading into the playoffs, it might look something like this. yhoo.it/4vHCgnc

If someone asked you to draw up what the Platonic ideal of this Knicks offense is supposed to look like, you could do a lot worse than this ... yhoo.it/4vHCgnc

NBA playoffs 2026: Can the Knicks rely on Jalen Brunson/Karl-Anthony Towns two-man attack in Game 2? The Hawks had their fair share of problems with it in New York's Game 1 win, but NBA playoff series are marked by adjustments and counters. What can the Hawks do to stem the tide?

At Y! Sports: Ahead of Knicks-Hawks Game 2, I wrote about:

• The Brunson-KAT two-man game, and Atlanta's adjustment to it;

• New York clipping the Hawks' wings;

• And one big health question looming over Monday night: yhoo.it/4vHCgnc

Okongwu being questionable is very notable, because if he can't go, Atlanta's only available bigs are Mo Gueye and Tony Bradley, and the Hawks have a hard enough time with New York's size as is.

It's the ferocity of the hug

whoops, today is apparently a "sibling kindness makes me choke up on the train" type of day