Who's to blame for Knicks' fourth-quarter collapse? Plenty to go around.

NEW YORK — So, who’s to blame for the fourth-quarter collapse of New York Knicks ? The Atlanta Hawks rallied from a 12-point deficit to start the period and stunned New York, 107-106 , evening the first-round playoff series at one game apiece Monday, April 20. It tied for the worst blown fourth-quarter lead in Knicks playoff history.

The other game was the infamous Reggie Miller "choke" game in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals. Is it Mikal Bridges, whose attempted game-winning jumper bounced off front rim? Is it OG Anunoby, who, with a chance at the line to take a one-point lead with 1:54 to play, missed both free throws?

Is it Karl-Anthony Towns, who didn’t record a single point, rebound, assist, steal or block in nearly eight fourth-quarter minutes? Is it Jalen Brunson, who got cooked on defense down the stretch (twice) by CJ McCollum and whose shot selection in the fourth felt forced, if not potentially self-serving? Or is it coach Mike Brown, who oversaw it all?

The reality, frankly, is that it’s some combination of all of the above. Losses like these are rarely the fault of a single person, but of an overall breakdown that’s gradual, at first, before it becomes sudden. "In that fourth quarter, too, you could tell that they were playing with a level of desperation," Brown told reporters after the game.