The Knicks were on the road in Atlanta for Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the Hawks and ended up losing 108-109 after coming back from an 18-point deficit to take a lead (108-105) in the final minute.
Unfortunately for them, Jalen Brunson came up short in the final two possessions, where the Hawks ended up being clutch to make the final two shots and take the lead again. A gut-punching loss for all the Knicks’ fans.
Following the failed comeback, Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns spoke to the media, where they made their feelings known on the outcome of tonight. Brunson was cold with his answers, while Towns got a bit more candid about his emotions.
“I wish I had a better answer for you. I got nothing right now,” said Brunson when asked about what he saw in the final two possessions that deflated their valiant comeback.
“Not good enough,” Brunson further added in his opinion on his own floor game recently. “Everything,” he said when asked what he would change about it.
Brunson finished the game with 26 points, four assists, three rebounds, and two steals. He shot 11-23 from the floor (47.8 FG%) and did not make a single three-point shot in five attempts.
Towns, however, was a lot more candid about his emotions after the game when he addressed the locker room media scrum.
“We fought, and it shows that we’ve got that fight. We’ll never quit on ourselves, no matter how the game is going… but we need to close out the game. We just didn’t today,” said Towns in his initial remarks.
“Of course, it hurts when you give yourself a chance to win. Last game and this game. But credit where credit is due to the Hawks, who found a way to win.”
“It hurts more that we didn’t put ourselves in a position to win; we just didn’t close the show. So that’s why it was an emotional one. You know, it’s tough, we’ve got to keep our heads up. It’s okay to be disappointed; that means we care. Now we’ve got to get the next one,” Towns further added.
“I mean, it’s tough to hear the crowd cheer with them saying the other team won. I don’t think about the shots, I think about the result, and that’s always tough,” Towns concluded while talking about the final two possessions that turned the game around.
Towns ended the night with 21 points, 17 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks while shooting 7-12 from the floor (58.3 FG%) and 1-3 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%). But Towns said that his offensively efficient night means nothing if the team does not win.
Clearly, the Knicks’ locker room atmosphere is distraught after this loss to the Hawks. If the Knicks don’t win Game 4, which is on Saturday, then they will very steep hill to climb ahead of them to stay alive in the playoffs.
Only 13 teams have managed to come back from down 3-1 in a series in 298 such instances in NBA history. Hence, the result of Game 4 could make it or break it for the Knicks’ hopes in the playoffs.
