The Knicks always had fatal flaws — and the Hawks just exposed them
Perhaps if Mike Brown opted not to call a controversial timeout with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ Game 2 loss to the Atlanta Hawks , the Knicks may have, indeed, went on to take a 2-0 series lead instead. Because OG Anunoby was open in the corner, and Jalen Brunson made a strong drive to the paint creating a passing lane to a knockdown shooter. The world will never know.
Brown called the timeout, the whistle cutting through a tense Madison Square Garden already bracing for a 14-point lead slipping away. And the way things were going, Brunson was set to call his own number yet again in an effort to prevent an epic playoff collapse. He finished with 29 points on 10-of-26 shooting.
Over the final 7:53, he shot three-of-eight and had the ball stolen on the Knicks’ second-to-last possession. No other Knick took more than three shots in the fourth. Karl-Anthony Towns, who went six-of-seven in the third quarter alone, took just two shots and didn’t score in the fourth.
And the Knicks cited a “stagnant” offense down the stretch — the standstill nature of the scoring flow the chief reason Brown called the timeout many say iced his own All-Star point guard. “I think [our offensive flow] could have been better,” said Mikal Bridges. “It’s definitely got to be better.
” “I agree. It was a little bit slow,” added Anunoby. “Not a lot of ball movement.
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