Jalen Brunson did not leave much on the locker-room floor after the New York Knicks coughed up a 15-point fourth-quarter cushion to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 2 of their first-round series. The Knicks point guard put the blame exactly where he thought it belonged — on himself — and flagged a recurring pattern that had suddenly become a playoff problem.
Atlanta outscored New York 28-15 in the final frame on the way to the road win, evening the series at 1-1 heading back to Atlanta. Asked about the offensive process down the stretch, Brunson did not reach for complexity.
"We were a little stagnant," Brunson said. "Obviously I can control what I can control, and so poor decision making on my part. A couple possessions they played great defense, knocked the ball in my hands. We just had to — we've got to play better with the lead. That's twice in the fourth quarter now that we've done that. One going to Atlanta, and obviously this game was winnable."
The Knicks' fourth-quarter fingerprint has been the central thread of the series. Atlanta's half-court defense, particularly in switches, has forced New York into iso-heavy late possessions, and the Hawks' backcourt scorer has been the beneficiary of exactly the matchups the Knicks have been trying to hunt.
"He was in a great rhythm," Brunson said, asked what he could do differently to stop Atlanta's perimeter scorer in Game 3. "I've got to disrupt it. Make him play on his heels, make him react to me defensively. He was just in a rhythm, and you've got to give him a lot of credit."
Josh Hart spoke from the chair next to him. The Knicks swingman framed the night around pace and physicality — the Knicks identity levers that drifted downward in the final quarter.
"I feel like our pace wasn't as good as it normally is," Hart said. "We're a team that, you know, when we get stops, we can play fast and get good looks, get good buckets. We just didn't execute as much as we wanted to."
Hart was also asked about Atlanta's CJ, who got downhill repeatedly in switches and attacked the Knicks' drop coverage for a second straight game.
"Force him into tough shots," Hart said. "He's a really good offensive player. He's doing, making shots. Obviously we could do a better job of being more physical with those kind of things, contesting and rebounding."
Pressed on what made the loss sting beyond the scoreboard, Hart went through a shortlist: 10 missed free throws, 14 turnovers, disconnected possessions.
"All of it," Hart said. "This was a game we should have won in the playoffs. You can't give away games. We all got to make sure we are locked in, watch the film of it, get better, and go in and battle for Game 3."
The other frustration New York took out of the night was the rhythm of Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks centre erupted in the third quarter but was effectively zeroed out in the second and fourth. Brunson and Hart both flagged it as an in-house fix rather than a Hawks counter.
"We've got to make sure we make sure he's involved," Hart said. "Find him on mismatches. Put him in action, make sure we use his skill and his gravity to our advantage. That's something we'll look at film and be better with."
Brunson closed on a wider-angle note. The Knicks have been a late-game team all year, and he pointed to experience rather than desperation.
"We've been in this situation before," Brunson said. "Obviously everyone is frustrated with this loss, and we're going to go into Game 3 with a great attention to detail and a great focus for 48 minutes. We've got high character guys who respond well."
That response is now the series. New York had a 2-0 in its hands and walked out with a tied series instead, having coughed up a fourth-quarter lead for the second time in three games. Brunson's self-diagnosis — poor decision-making in the closing possessions — is the part he said he can control. What the Knicks cannot outrun is that it has become the story line heading into Atlanta for Game 3.
