NEW YORK (AP) — CJ McCollum was headed for an early summer until the Washington Wizards sent him to the Hawks in January in the trade for Trae Young.
McCollum not only replaced Young in Atlanta, now he's replaced him in Madison Square Garden — as the villain who carried the Hawks past the New York Knicks in a playoff game.
“I ain't no villain,” McCollum said. “I'm a nice guy with two kids and a wife.”
The veteran guard scored 32 points Monday night to
help the Hawks rally for a stunning 107-106 victory that tied the Eastern Conference first-round series at one game apiece.
He was profanely taunted by the Garden fans after he and Jose Alvarado went nose-to-nose and were each given technical fouls in the third quarter, just as Young was in a 2021 first-round series. And just like Young did in Game 1 of that series when New Yorkers picked him as their target, he made the big plays late that left them silent.
“I love it. I love it. That’s why we play the game,” McCollum said. “It’s fun being in opposing arenas and when the buzzer sounds and it’s quiet and you walk off the court, I think there’s a level of mutual respect.”
When the Hawks decided to move on from their longtime star guard, coach Quin Snyder knew McCollum could step in as a veteran leader on a young team. But he also knew the 34-year-old could replace some of the firepower Young had provided.
“Yeah, I felt like we needed both, you know?” Snyder said. “Being in the West for a while, I’ve watched him do that when he was in Portland.”
Then it was on to New Orleans, before the Pelicans dealt him in July to Washington. Then came the trade to Atlanta and what McCollum called his “light at the end of the tunnel.”
“I’m just thankful to be able to play in the playoffs on a good team in a good situation,” McCollum said. “I think you take the journey for what it is in stride and just hope for the best. And I think when you do things the right way you get rewarded at the end of the tunnel, and my reward is playing the Knicks in the Garden.”
He outplayed counterpart Jalen Brunson, seemingly looking for every opportunity to go 1-on-1 at the Knicks All-Star, and made the go-ahead basket, a jumper with 33 seconds to play.
He left the door open for the Knicks to win by missing two free throws with 5.6 seconds remaining, but Mikal Bridges missed a jumper. Now the Knicks have to win at least once at Atlanta — and figure out how to cool off McCollum.
“CJ hit a couple big buckets late. He hit his and we missed ours and you give a guy like CJ a lot of credit,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said. “That’s what those guys are supposed to do and he got it done.”
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