NBA playoffs 2026 takeaways: MSG has a new villain in CJ McCollum after Hawks shock Knicks

NEW YORK — The version of the Atlanta Hawks that entered the 2026 NBA playoffs is drastically different from the one that began the campaign back in October. Franchise centerpiece Trae Young is gone; so, too, is key offseason addition Kristaps Porziņģis. The team dramatically reoriented its identity in early January, changed its starting lineup in February, and hit the gas after the All-Star break — a whiplash-inducing sprint to the East’s No. 6 seed.

“The guys that have been here through that — Jalen [Johnson], Nickeil [Alexander-Walker], Dyson [Daniels] and Onyeka [Okongwu], those guys in particular — you know, to see them kind of hang in there and believe in what we were trying to do foundationally and kind of our identity, and get rewarded for it,” head coach Quin Snyder said before Game 2.  “We’re happy to be here, grateful to be here and all that, but at the same time, I just don’t want to put a ceiling on this group. We are young. First time, kind of, our core guys have been in this situation.

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“But at the same time, you know, I think it’s also true that you can embrace the opportunity to have success in the playoffs, as well.”

And now, after a rough run in Game 1, these young Hawks have some success in the playoffs, erasing a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit to score a 107-106 victory that shocked the Madison Square Garden faithful and wrested home-court advantage away from the favored Knicks, knotting the best-of-seven series at 1-1 as the scene shifts to Atlanta. Game 3 tips at State Farm Arena at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Here are three takeaways from a stunning Game 2:

MSG has found its Trae Young replacement

Early in the first quarter, you could hear a stray “F*** Trae Young!” chant or two from the rafters at MSG. Those fans obviously know the diminutive point guard who sent the Knicks home from the playoffs in 2021 is no longer a member of the Atlanta roster; they just hadn’t identified a substitute villain worthy of their derision and scorn.

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I think they have one now.

In Game 1, CJ McCollum kicked Jalen Brunson below the belt on a jump shot, then claimed…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/nba-playoffs-2026-takeaways-msg-has-a-new-villain-in-cj-mccollum-after-hawks-shock-knicks-043907203.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-04-21 04:39:00

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