Hawks vs Knicks 109-108: 2026 Game 3 Review | OddNexo AI
Basketball
Hawks vs Knicks 109-108: 2026 Game 3 Review
Atlanta beat New York 109-108 in 2026 NBA Playoffs Game 3. Review McCollum's winner, Johnson's 24-10-8, quarter scores, team data and series context.
Матч
Atlanta Hawks vs New York Knicks
Автор
OddNexo Editorial Team
Atlanta Hawks versus New York Knicks on April 23, 2026 was a completed Eastern Conference first-round playoff game. Atlanta won 109-108 at State Farm Arena after CJ McCollum made a go-ahead fadeaway with 12.5 seconds remaining. The victory gave the Hawks a 2-1 series lead.
The one-point final score hides how different the game looked across its phases. Atlanta led by as many as 18 after a 33-point first quarter. New York gradually recovered and moved ahead 108-105 on Jalen Brunson's three-point play with 1:03 left. Jalen Johnson and McCollum then scored the final four points, while the Knicks failed to produce a shot on their last possession.
Game result at a glance
Detail
Verified result
Competition
2026 NBA Playoffs, Eastern first round, Game 3
Venue
State Farm Arena, Atlanta
Local date
April 23, 2026
Final score
Hawks 109, Knicks 108
Series after the game
Atlanta led 2-1
Game-winning shot
CJ McCollum, 12.5 seconds left
Atlanta leader
Jalen Johnson, 24 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists
Final series result
New York won 4-2
The official NBA game page confirms the result and the late sequence. The imported title used April 24 because of UTC and Asian time zones; the game was played on April 23 in Atlanta.
Quarter-by-quarter score
Team
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
Final
New York Knicks
21
29
30
28
108
Atlanta Hawks
33
25
30
21
109
Atlanta's strongest stretch came in the final seven minutes of the first quarter. The Hawks outscored New York 27-12 in that span, used an 11-0 run and closed the period with three consecutive three-pointers. Their 33-21 lead became an 18-point advantage during the second quarter.
New York did not allow the contest to become a blowout. A 12-2 run before halftime reduced the gap to 58-50, and the Knicks matched Atlanta's 30 points in the third. New York won the fourth 28-21 and appeared to have completed the comeback before the final minute changed hands twice.
The final 63 seconds
Brunson's three-point play with 1:03 remaining put New York ahead 108-105. Johnson answered with a difficult finish to reduce the gap to one. The Knicks then gained an offensive rebound after Josh Hart missed a three, but the possession ended in a shot-clock violation without a field-goal attempt.
McCollum received the ball with Atlanta down one and made a fadeaway from roughly 15 feet with 12.5 seconds left. It was his second consecutive game with a defining late shot against the Knicks.
New York still had time to answer, but Brunson lost control before getting a shot away. Atlanta survived 109-108. The finish was therefore not only about McCollum's shot; the Knicks had two late possessions and failed to convert either into an attempt.
Team performance indicators
Metric
Knicks
Hawks
Points in the paint
56
40
Fast-break points
15
20
Largest lead
3
18
Bench points
30
31
Team rebounds
9
11
Turnovers
15
16
Points off turnovers
18
21
New York's 56-40 advantage in the paint explains how the Knicks came back without a dominant three-point night. They consistently attacked Atlanta's interior and eventually forced the Hawks to defend a much smaller margin.
Atlanta offset that disadvantage with transition scoring and the early lead. Five extra fast-break points, three more points off turnovers and an almost even bench contribution helped the Hawks survive New York's interior efficiency.
The turnover totals were similar, but timing mattered. New York's final turnover removed its last chance to win, and the preceding shot-clock violation was functionally another empty possession. Atlanta also committed 16 turnovers, so this was not a clean offensive performance from either side.
Jalen Johnson's complete line
Johnson led Atlanta with 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. His near triple-double reflects the role he played across the game: primary transition threat, rebounder and connector when New York increased pressure on McCollum.
His last basket was almost as important as the winner. Atlanta trailed by three after Brunson's play, and Johnson's finish kept the Hawks within one without using too much clock. That allowed the defence to create a shot-clock violation and gave McCollum the possession that decided the game.
Johnson's eight assists also helped Atlanta turn an early pace advantage into an 18-point lead. The Hawks needed his creation because the Knicks were capable of closing on McCollum more aggressively after halftime.
CJ McCollum delivered again
McCollum scored 23 points, including 16 in the first half. He started Atlanta's scoring with a step-back three and made the decisive 15-foot fadeaway in the final seconds.
His impact included defence. In the first half, McCollum blocked Hart on a transition drive and forced the ball off Hart to preserve Atlanta possession. That sequence supported the Hawks' 20-15 edge in fast-break points.
The context from Game 2 matters. McCollum had already led Atlanta to a one-point win at Madison Square Garden. Repeating a late-game answer in Game 3 shifted the series from 1-1 to 2-1 and put the Knicks under immediate pressure.
Atlanta's bench and first-quarter spacing
Jonathan Kuminga scored 21 points off the bench, giving Atlanta a third high-volume threat. The Hawks received 31 bench points in total, one more than New York.
The first-quarter spacing was especially effective. Mouhamed Gueye made an open three, and Kuminga followed with two more as Atlanta closed the period. New York's help defence was late, allowing the Hawks to turn a competitive opening into a 12-point lead.
That shooting did not continue at the same rate in the fourth quarter, when Atlanta scored only 21. The Hawks' early cushion became essential because New York's defence and paint attack improved as the game progressed.
New York's three leading scorers
OG Anunoby led the Knicks with 29 points, Brunson scored 26 and Karl-Anthony Towns added 21. Those three combined for 76, nearly 70% of New York's total.
Anunoby's scoring kept the wings productive while Atlanta directed attention toward Brunson. Towns helped drive the 56 paint points, and Brunson created the late lead. The result shows that strong individual totals do not automatically equal clean closing execution.
The final possession will attract the most attention, but the missed opportunity before it was equally important. After recovering Hart's missed three, the Knicks failed to attempt a shot before the clock expired. Better communication or a quicker reset could have produced a three-point lead and changed Atlanta's final decision.
Head-to-head and series context
New York entered the playoffs as the East's third seed with a 53-29 record. Atlanta was the sixth seed at 46-36. The Knicks won Game 1 at Madison Square Garden 113-102, but the Hawks answered with consecutive one-point wins: 107-106 in Game 2 and 109-108 in Game 3.
At that point, Atlanta had won two close games and appeared to hold the late-game edge. The series then reversed. New York won Game 4 in Atlanta 114-98, took Game 5 and completed a 4-2 series victory with a 140-89 win in Game 6.
The official Game 6 record confirms New York as the series winner. The NBA season review adds the broader context: the Knicks were down 2-1 to Atlanta before beginning a historic playoff winning streak that continued through later rounds.
That later reversal is useful for evaluating Game 3. Atlanta's win was deserved, but the one-point margin and New York's large paint advantage contained warning signs. The Hawks had to improve their interior defence and late offensive stability; instead, the Knicks adjusted more effectively from Game 4 onward.
What the game says about predictive analysis
Pre-game factor
Game 3 outcome
Atlanta home-court energy
Strong 33-21 first quarter and 18-point lead
New York interior scoring
Knicks won paint points 56-40
Late-game creation
McCollum made the winner; Knicks produced no final shot
Bench depth
Essentially even, Atlanta 31-30
Turnover control
Neither side was clean; timing decided the impact
An evidence-led model should not use the 18-point lead alone to describe Atlanta's control, because the Hawks were behind in the final minute. It should also not use New York's paint dominance alone to declare the Knicks the better side on the night, because Atlanta's transition game and closing shot produced the result.
The most repeatable signal was the competitiveness of the matchup. Games 2 and 3 were decided by one point, and both featured McCollum in the decisive moment. The risk was that one-possession outcomes can flip on a single turnover or missed rotation, making high-confidence pre-game claims inappropriate.
Editorial verdict
This archive records an Atlanta Hawks 109-108 win. It does not display a live moneyline, spread, total or bookmaker call to action. The event and all associated pre-game markets are closed.
Atlanta earned the win through a dominant opening quarter, 20 fast-break points, balanced bench scoring and McCollum's late execution. New York's 56 paint points and fourth-quarter comeback made the contest almost even, but two empty possessions in the final minute left the Knicks without an answer.
FAQ
What was the Hawks vs Knicks Game 3 score?
Atlanta beat New York 109-108 in Game 3 of the 2026 Eastern Conference first round.
Who made the winning shot?
CJ McCollum made a fadeaway with 12.5 seconds remaining.
Who led Atlanta?
Jalen Johnson had 24 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. McCollum scored 23, and Jonathan Kuminga added 21 from the bench.
Who led New York?
OG Anunoby scored 29, Jalen Brunson 26 and Karl-Anthony Towns 21.
Who eventually won the series?
New York recovered from a 2-1 deficit and won the series 4-2.
Is this a current betting prediction?
No. It is a post-match archive based on the official result and game data.
