How CJ McCollum is dominating Knicks and what they can do to slow him down
After a shocking Game 2 loss to the Hawks, one issue the Knicks need to address to get out of the first round is how to slow down CJ McCollum.
The Knicks find themselves in a 1-1 lock with the Hawks in their first-round matchup, as they head to Atlanta following an embarrassing defeat at home. While they’ve given themselves no shortage of issues to address before Game 3, one factor likely to be high up on New York’s list: stopping CJ McCollum. The 6-foot-3, 34-year-old veteran guard has smoked the Knicks in back-to-back games at MSG this series.
He scored 26 in Game 1 on 11-for-20 shooting. 4-for-9 from three, then added 32 points on 12 of 22 shooting, including 3 of 10 from three. No other Hawk has managed to hurt the Knicks to McCollum’s degree and consistency thus far, making him the current biggest threat to end this New York playoff run early.
With that in mind, let’s break down how he’s cut through their defenses and what can be done to switch things up. McCollum’s primarily been guarded by Jalen Brunson , who, for all he’s done on the offensive end, is the Knicks’ biggest weak point defensively. Normally, New York would hide him on a favorable matchup, but with Karl-Anthony Towns on the non-shooter ( Dyson Daniels ) in Atlanta’s lineup, head coach Mike Brown doesn’t have much of a choice.
To be fair, McCollum got a lot of his Game 1 buckets off silly Knicks mistakes and semi-transition stuff that’s easy to clean up. He’s also burned every other Knick that ends up guarding him via switch or changed matchup in those few attempts. But he’s also identified Brunson as an easy target and is taking advantage.