Hawks’ C.J. McCollum emerges as newest Knicks villain after Game 2 spat, fourth-quarter heroics
NEW YORK — New York City has a new sports villain. Atlanta Hawks star C. J.
McCollum heard it from a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden after a tense exchange with Jose Alvarado — the second game in a row that the veteran guard rankled Knicks fans. McCollum then made three big baskets in the game’s final 2:08 — including a go-ahead jumper that proved to be the game-winner. Late in the third ...
NEW YORK — New York City has a new sports villain. Atlanta Hawks star C. J.
McCollum heard it from a sellout crowd at Madison Square Garden after a tense exchange with Jose Alvarado — the second game in a row that the veteran guard rankled Knicks fans. McCollum then made three big baskets in the game’s final 2:08 — including a go-ahead jumper that proved to be the game-winner. Late in the third quarter of the Knicks’ 107-106 loss in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, Hawks center Tony Bradley was called for an offensive foul as he set a hard screen on Alvarado.
McCollum, whom Bradley was trying to screen open, then got into it with Alvarado, going face-to-face with the scrappy Knicks guard in a moment that underscored the growing chippiness in this series. Alvarado and McCollum were assessed double technicals, so neither shot free throws, but the damage was done. The crowd united in a profanity-laced chant at McCollum’s expense — using the same explicit verbiage they used to direct at former Hawks star Trae Young.