CJ McCollum’s take on the Knicks-Hawks series doesn’t really hold up.
New York rolled through the playoffs with a 16-3 record on the way to its first championship in 53 years, and the Knicks were even better when Atlanta wasn’t standing in front of them, going 12-1 in those other games. Against the Hawks, though, the opening round had just enough drama early to make things look competitive before New York slammed the door.
Atlanta took two of the first three games, and those first three matchups were tight enough to suggest a long series. Game 1 included a late New York run that briefly put Knicks fans on edge, but New York still won.
Game 2 flipped when the Knicks gave away an eight-point lead in the final five minutes and lost by one. Game 3 followed a similar script, with New York climbing back from nine down in the final eight minutes before falling by a point at the buzzer.
That was the high point for the Hawks. Down 2-1, New York responded by winning the next three games by 16, 29, and 51 points. The clincher in Game 6 was never close, with the Knicks up 83-36 at halftime and their starters done for the night with 14:45 left.
So when McCollum told SiriusXM NBA Radio on Sunday, “They figured something out.” and “We pushed them to the limit.”, the first part fits better than the second. New York clearly adjusted after the early losses. But “pushed them to the limit” is a stretch when the final three games turned into blowouts and the series ended with the Knicks outscoring Atlanta by a combined 95 points over those wins.
Even the early Hawks lead doesn’t really rescue that claim. New York outscored Atlanta by nine points in the first three games, and by the end of the series, the Knicks had beaten the Hawks by triple digits overall across the six games.
If this had gone seven, maybe the argument would have some life. But it didn’t, and Game 6 was basically over before it had a chance to breathe.
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