CJ McCollum steals the show as Hawks win Game 2, even series against Knicks

NEW YORK — The Hawks stole one in the Big Apple.

CJ McCollum led a furious fourth-quarter comeback, as the Hawks overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half and took a 107-106 win over the Knicks in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference best-of-seven series at Madison Square Garden.

The Hawks earned the split in New York and head home to State Farm Arena for Game 3 on Thursday.

McCollum gave the Hawks a three-point lead with under two minutes to play, but the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson answered with a 3-pointer. McCollum followed with another jumper for the lead, but he missed two free throws down the stretch. The Knicks had a chance to win in the final seconds, but Mikal Bridges’ last-second jumper was off the mark.

Quick stats: McCollum had 32 points and six assists. Jonathan Kuminga had 19 points. Jalen Johnson had 17 points and eight rebounds. Onyeka Okongwu had 15 points and eight rebounds.

For the Knicks, Brunson had 29 points and seven assists. Josh Hart had 15 points and 13 rebounds.

Key moment

The Hawks began to push toward the end of the third and beginning of the fourth when Corey Kispert hit a running layup and Okongwu made a running dunk before Gabe Vincent found Kuminga for a layup. Kuminga then hit Okongwu with a lob, cutting the Hawks’ deficit to six.

They didn’t go away when the Knicks hit a couple of shots to try to push the game out of reach. The Hawks made another little run, which started with Kuminga completing a three-point play. Then, Johnson made a tough jumper at the rim through three defenders.

The Hawks made it through another Knicks push with a Kuminga layup, a three-pointer from Nickeil Alexander-Walker and baseline jumper from Johnson that pulled the Hawks within 100-99.

Highlight play 2

With less than 20 seconds remaining, the Hawks were clinging to a two-point lead and the Knicks looking to tie or move ahead. Alexander-Walker made one of the plays of the game, with a steal as Brunson was going up for a jumper.

That created a two-on-one fast break the other way and Alexander-Walker found Johnson for a two-handed dunk and a four-point advantage — the Hawks’ largest margin of the game.

Highlight play 2

The Hawks’ bench showed up in the second quarter, helping to power them to an 11-3 run that kept them in the ball game early. Kuminga gave the Hawks some big minutes in that stretch, helping them to their only lead of the game to that point.

With 8:19 to play in the second quarter, Kuminga intercepted a pass to Hart on the wing. The Hawks forward ran out and went up for the transition dunk. It put the Hawks up 36-35, capping off a run where they capitalized on the non-Karl-Anthony Towns and non-Brunson minutes.

What they said

“I ain’t no villain. I’m a nice guy with two kids and a wife. I think it’s admiration. Very passionate fans in a pretty hostile environment. It’s fun. It’s basketball. It’s the playoffs. If anything, I think it’s a sign of respect.” -- McCollum on becoming the latest in a list of Knicks fans’ villains.

“CJ - that got him going. I think he enjoyed that. The crowd shouldn’t really do that or say that. I think that really got him going and got all of us going - the energy.” -- Kuminga on the Knicks fans’ chants to McCollum.