NBA Announces 2 Mistakes in Final 10 Seconds of Knicks' Loss to Hawks
The New York Knicks lost to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of their first-round NBA playoff series on Monday, 107-106. The win allowed the Hawks to tie the series at 1-1 before heading back to Atlanta.
Jalen Brunson and company led by 12 points entering the fourth quarter, but the Hawks clawed their way back to turn things around. New York made just nine points in 10 minutes in the fourth, while Atlanta scored 22 in the same span.
A CJ McCollum layup gave the Hawks a 101-100 lead with 2:08 left to play, and Atlanta never trailed again after that.
McCollum led the way for Atlanta with 32 points on 12-of-22 shooting, along with three rebounds, six assists, two steals and one block. Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench.
For the Knicks, Brunson finished with 29 points and seven assists, while Karl-Anthony Towns chipped in 18 points and eight rebounds.
The game wasn't without issues, though. In fact, there were two missed calls in the contest that both benefited the Knicks.
According to the NBA's Last Two Minute Report, Towns should have been called for an offensive foul for hitting Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker as he was trying to chase Brunson during an inbound play with 10.2 seconds remaining.
Towns used his lower body to get in the way of Alexander-Walker, who fell to the ground following the hit. Brunson was left unguarded, received the inbound pass and drained a triple to cut the Hawks' lead to just one, 107-106.
"Towns (NYK) extends his lower body into Alexander-Walker's (ATL) path and delivers contact as he sets the screen," the L2M report explained, noting that it was an incorrect non-call.
The other mistake occurred with 5.2 seconds left on the clock while McCollum was shooting a free throw. Video replay showed Mikal Bridges going over the 3-point line before the Hawks star shot his free throw, which should have been called a lane violation.
Had it been called, McCollum would have gotten another free throw. Instead, the referees missed it and the Knicks got one final shot to win the game, although they failed.
Considering how close the game was, it would have been disastrous for the Hawks. Fortunately, they were still able to come out on top and avoided falling into a 2-0 hole.
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This story was originally published April 21, 2026 at 7:12 PM.