ATLANTA — CJ McCollum hit a fadeaway jumper with 12.5 seconds left to ruin the New York Knicks’ night again, leading the Eastern Conference’s sixth-seeded Atlanta Hawks to a 109-108 victory over the No. 3 seed Thursday night at State Farm Arena for a 2-1 lead in their best-of-seven series in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
After starring in a Game 2 stunner Monday at Madison Square Garden, McCollum got the ball in Game 3 with his team trailing by a point. He came through again from 15 feet and finished the game with 23 points.
Hawks coach Quin Snyder called it “a great shot,” but he also stressed the effort of his entire team.
“They work, they share,” said Snyder, who took over in Atlanta in late February 2023 and has the team back in the playoffs for the first time since a first-round exit that year. “That’s the thing about this group that I’ve enjoyed so much.”
The Hawks led nearly the entire contest, building an 18-point lead in the first half, but New York rallied for a 108-105 edge on Jalen Brunson’s three-point play with 1:03 remaining.