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NBA Playoffs: Hawks stun Knicks, Cavs go up 2-0, T-Wolves win

By The Associated Press - | Apr 21, 2026

Knicks guard Miles McBride drives on Atlanta's CJ McCollum during Monday night's Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first round playoff series in New York. (AP photo)

NEW YORK (AP) — CJ McCollum scored 32 points and the Atlanta Hawks rallied to stun the New York Knicks 107-106 on Monday night, tying their first-round playoff series at one game apiece.

McCollum led a late surge that was almost for naught when he missed two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining. The Knicks rushed the ball up the court without any timeouts left, but Mikal Bridges missed a jumper as time expired.

“It’s a long game,” McCollum said. “You’ve got to play to zero.”

The Hawks had trailed the whole second half and were down 12 after three quarters. Atlanta chipped away and a basket by McCollum gave the Hawks a 101-100 lead — their first of the series in the second half — with 2:09 to play. He made another for a three-point lead, and after Jalen Brunson tied it with a 3-pointer, McCollum answered with another jumper to make it 105-103 with 33 seconds to play.

Jonathan Kuminga added 19 points off the bench and Jalen Johnson scored 17, including a basket with 10 seconds left for a four-point lead for the No. 6 seeds, who host Game 3 on Thursday.

Brunson had 29 points for the Knicks and Karl-Anthony Towns added 18.

The Knicks are trying to reach the second round for a fourth straight season, their longest stretch since the 1991-92 to 1999-2000 seasons, and seemed well on their way.

“This is a game we should have won,” New York’s Josh Hart said. “In the playoffs you can’t give away games.”

The Knicks had been 40-1 in the postseason since the advent of the shot clock in 1954-55 when leading by 12 or more after three quarters. The only loss was when Reggie Miller scored 25 points in the fourth for Indiana in Game 5 of the 1994 Eastern Conference finals.

Towns, who had four points in the first half, scored 14 in the third quarter as the Knicks extended the lead to 78-64. They were still ahead by eight with under five minutes remaining.

But their young players who sparked the Hawks’ surge after the All-Star break finally made some plays before McCollum — ignoring profane jeers after he and Jose Alvarado went nose-to-nose and were each given technical fouls in the third quarter — then closed it out.

CAVALIERS 115, RAPTORS 105

Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, James Harden added 28 and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 115-105 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Monday night for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Evan Mobley had 25 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who had at least three players score at least 25 points in a postseason game for the second straight season and fourth time overall.

Cleveland — which never trailed — has won 12 straight playoff games against Toronto, tying the NBA postseason record for consecutive wins against an opponent. The streak began in the 2016 Eastern Conference finals, when the Cavaliers took the final two games. Cleveland swept Toronto in four games in the second round in 2017 and ’18.

The Cavaliers also have 12-game winning streaks against Detroit and Atlanta, while the Los Angeles Lakers had a 12-game run against Seattle from 1980 through ’89.

WESTERN CONFERENCE

TIMBERWOLES 119, NUGGETS 114

Anthony Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle added 24 and the Minnesota Timberwolves rallied past the Denver Nuggets in Denver to tie their Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece.

Denver had won 13 straight since losing on March 18.

Edwards turned the ball over with 31 seconds left and Christian Braun got fouled at the other end, but he missed one of two free throws, leaving Denver trailing 115-114 with 19 seconds remaining.

After a Minnesota timeout, Randle sank two free throws and Donte DiVincenzo added a breakaway dunk to cap the comeback from a 19-point first-quarter deficit.

Jamal Murray scored 30 points and Nikola Jokic had 24 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists. But the Nuggets’ All-Star duo shot a combined 2 for 12 in the fourth quarter, managing a measly four points as the Wolves evened a best-of-seven series that shifts to Minneapolis for Game 3 on Thursday night.