Knicks Blow Another & Lose by 1 Pt for 2nd Straight Game. Atlanta 109 NY 108

April 25, 2026 LouV 2025-26 0
OG Anunoby hitting another corner 3.

The Knicks played horribly in the 1st quarter, were down by 18 pts late in the 2nd quarter, benched Mikal Bridges, were down by 10 pts in the 4th, and still came back to take a 3-pt lead with a minute left.

Only to blow it — as CJ McCullum made a clutch shot in the final minute and Jalen Brunson didn’t — putting up an airball on one play, and having his pass to Josh Hart intercepted on the final play of the game.

Final score Atlanta 109 NY 108 in game 3 of the best-of-7 series, Atlanta having stolen the prior game in NY by the score of 107-106 — a game NY controlled throughout until the final minutes.

Again Jonathan Kuminga killed NY off Atlanta’s bench. Meanwhile Josh Hart played great but couldn’t stick the jumper — going 1-9 (0-4 from 3) for 2 pts in 40 minutes.

OG Anunoby (29 pts, 4-8 from 3, 9 rebounds) and Miles McBride (5-10 from 3 for 15 pts) were heroes for NY. Brunson had 26 pts but was 0-5 from 3. Karl-Anthony Towns scored 21 pts and had 17 rebounds.

Jalen Johnson led Atlanta with 24 pts and McCullum had 23.

“I liked the fight our guys showed, I liked the resiliency that our guys showed,” said Knick coach Mike Brown afterwards. “We know we didn’t play our best basketball, that’s not taking anything away from the Hawks.. we gave ourselves a chance down the stretch.”

“The reality of it is, and I told (the players) this — it’s a 7-game series for a reason,” added Brown. “Stuff is going to happen. Plenty of teams have been down 1-2; shit I think even Oklahoma City was down 1-2 last year and they ended up winning it. I’m not saying we’re going to win it or anything like that but the reality is it’s 7 games, and you take one game at a time; each game is it’s own entity and that’s what I told the group. This should sting, because we gave ourselves a chance knowing that we didn’t play our best basketball. So it should sting. But we need to feel it, and be ready to be locked in for the next game which we will be.”

1. NY Starts off Good But 1st Quarter Turns Ugly

NY came out with aggression and took an early 9-6 lead on standout play by OG Anunoby especially, who scored 7 straight pts for the Knicks.

But Atlanta pushed back with an 11-0 run led by Jalen Johnson, Dyson Daniels, and McCullum.

Then Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench and really torched NY, hitting floaters, fadeaways, and consecutive 3’s late in the quarter to put Atlanta up 33-21.

“Had retweeted my Jonathan Kuminga tweet from 2021 the other day and now my 2022 tweet below,” noted NBA Analyst Ross Kreines. “Again, Jonathan Kuminga truly understands how to not just use his unreal athleticism but also his length and strength on both ends along with his motor. Also, Quin (Snyder) is utilizing his strengths.”

2. Atlanta Goes Up by 18 Pts Late in 2nd Quarter

The Knicks pushed back — Karl-Anthony Towns working with the 2nd team of Jose Alvarado and Jordan Clarkson getting buckets to keep NY within 10 — but Atlanta took off again on the play of McCullum and Onyeka Okongwu.

Okongwu broke free for consecutive dunks inside — even with Mitchell Robinson there — and then McCullum hit a 3 and Nickeil Walker-Alexander hit 1 of 2 free throws and Atlanta had an 18-pt lead at 56-38.

3. NY 12-2 Run Pulls them Within 58-50 at Half

It looked dim for NY — but they pushed back: KAT with a bucket inside off a Mikal Bridges pass, Clarkson with a deuce off a KAT pass, McBride with a 3, Clarkson with a drive, and McBride with another 3 after Alexander-Walker free throws — in all a 12-2 NY run to end the half down only 58-50.

4. Hawks Push Back Out to 15-Pt Lead in 3rd; Brunson Leads NY Back

KAT scored the first bucket of the 3rd quarter and NY was within 6.

But Atlanta pushed back: a bucket by Dyson Daniels and consecutive 3’s by Alexander-Walker put the Hawks back up by 15 at 69-54.

NY stormed back with an 11-0 run — buckets by OG, KAT, and Brunson — to pull within 4 at 69-65.

The teams went back and forth the rest of the quarter — NY led by Brunson who had 19 pts in the period — and NY went into the 4th down 88-80.

5. NY Down 10 Early in 4th — Rally to Take 3-Pt Lead with Minute Left

Jonathan Kuminga kept killing NY — scoring the first 2 buckets of the 4th quarter for Atlanta as they went up by 10; but Miles Clarkson and McBride hit back — McBride hitting two key 3’s to pull NY within 4 at 96-92 and 7 minutes left.

Jalen Brunson made a drive to pull NY within 99-96 with 5:35 left and OG hit a 3 to pull NY within 101-99 with 3:50 left.

OG hit another 3 to pull NY within 103-102 with 2:23 left; and McBride hit a 3 to tie the game 105-105 with 1:41 left.

The Knicks forced McCullum into a miss, KAT grabbed the rebound, and Jalen Brunson came down and hit a drive-and-1 for a 108-105 Knick lead!

6. McCullers Makes Clutch Shot; Brunson Doesn’t

But it was the last hurrah for NY.

Jalen Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to pull Atlanta within 1 with 56 seconds left.

Hart missed an open 3 with 31 seconds left, OG grabbed the offensive rebound and fed Brunson who missed an 18 footer with 16 seconds left — both could have iced the win.

Down the other end McCullum hit a jumper off a well-executed play out of a timeout to put Atlanta up 109-108 with 12 seconds left.

NY ran the final play out of a timeout, with Brunson penetrating right side — triple teamed — and passing out to Hart in the lane — but Hart couldn’t come up with the pass, and it was stolen by Kuminga for the old ballgame.

The Boxscore

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401869389

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