The New York Knicks came back to Earth, quickly, on Monday night at Madison Square Garden against a Hawks team that looked like it would be a nuisance despite losing Game 1 on Saturday, and proved it by winning Game 2. The Knicks coughed up a 14-point lead in a game they controlled throughout, and could not overcome a poor shooting night from Jalen Brunson (10-for-26, 29 points) in his matchup against veteran CJ McCollum, who had 32 points.
Of course, it was how McCollum got those points against the Knicks that drew significant attention. On a night when the rest of his team shot 30.5%, McCollum was 12-for-22, and frequently sought out matchups against the undersize (6-foot-2) Brunson, growing in confidence with each make against the Knicks All-Star.
After the game, McCollum was asked if he was hunting matchups against Brunson when he had the ball. McCollum responded to the question by asking the reporter, “What do you think?”
When the response came back positive, McCollum smiled and said, “Yeah.”
Jalen Brunson Lured Into ‘Personal’ Showdown
It would be hard to find a less likely candidate to assume the role of Knicks villain than McCollum, one of the best-liked players in the league among his peers. But that does not matter as much as the fact that McCollum–like Trae Young, the player for whom McCollum was traded–went after and bested Brunson, the Knicks hero.
Brunson got sucked into the momentum of the McCollum matchup, and that came to define Game 2. The Knicks went away from what had been working for them, and wound up with just 15 fourth-quarter points.
ESPN’s Knicks guru Alan Hahn, speaking on the ESPN morning show, “Get Up,” noted it became personal for Brunson: “They hunted Jalen Brunson in these matchups, that’s what McCollum wanted. Brunson was doing the same thing, going at McCollum, so it got personal between the two and maybe that’s why the Knicks offense got a little out of whack. Because you see McCollum, he was 4-for-4 in direct matchups against Brunson.”
Knicks Fans Make CJ McCollum New Garden Villain
On top of that, McCollum got into the lip-wagging trash talk that so often happens with the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Along the way, McCollum earned “villain” status for the MSG denizens, even as he protested that status by saying, “I ain’t no villain, I’m nice guy with two kids and a wife.”
Maybe, but at the very least, McCollum is now the latest in a line of opposing players who have fed off the intensity of Knicks fans.
Said Hahn: “There was something that happened with McCollum in that game, where he started to feel a little bit of that Garden energy. And he started talking to everybody around that court, and he started getting into it, and he was seeking the matchup, and every time he made a bucket, he let everybody know about it. There’s something about that building that opposing teams can feed off hate better than any other place. He did it in that moment.
“Garden villain? Not so sure. But they went from saying ‘F- Trae Young to F- CJ’ by the end of that game. That is, I think, as much credit as you can give an opposing player.”
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