The NBA’s review of the final two minutes of the New York Knicks’ Game 2 playoff loss did not hand Mike Brown’s club any officiating ammunition.
Instead, the league’s Last Two Minute Report said the Knicks actually benefited from two incorrect non-calls in the closing seconds of Monday night’s 107-106 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, a defeat that tied the first-round series at 1-1. The official report was posted Tuesday on the NBA’s officiating site after Atlanta’s comeback win at Madison Square Garden.
KAT had an uncalled illegal screen on the Brunson 3pt FG to make it 107-106.
Bridges had an uncalled lane violation on a McCollum missed FT.
The two missed violations both went against Atlanta in the league’s review. In the first, with 10.2 seconds left, the report marked an incorrect non-call on Karl-Anthony Towns, saying Towns “extends his lower body into Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s path and delivers contact as he sets the screen.” Moments later, with 5.6 seconds left, the league logged another incorrect non-call, this time saying Mikal Bridges “steps inside the arc prior to the release of the free throw.” The same sequence also included a correct call on Josh Hart for a personal foul against CJ McCollum and a correct non-call on Jonathan Kuminga’s contest of Jalen Brunson’s jumper.
That is the part that matters most for the Knicks after a one-point home loss: the league did not identify a late whistle that cost New York the game. If anything, the report suggests the Knicks got the benefit of a couple of misses and still could not close.
That should shift the postgame conversation back where it probably belongs anyway.
Knicks’ bigger problem was the collapse, not the whistle
New York led late before Atlanta ripped control away behind CJ McCollum, who finished with 32 points and helped the Hawks steal Game 2 on the road. The result sent the series to Atlanta tied 1-1 instead of giving the Knicks a chance to take a commanding early lead.
The Knicks did not lose because of a phantom foul, a blown out-of-bounds ruling or a controversial star whistle in the final possession. They lost because their execution slipped badly enough down the stretch that even favorable missed calls were not enough to save them.
For a team trying to make another deep postseason run, that is a more troubling sign than any one officiating decision.
A close playoff loss can always tempt teams and fans to search for a single late moment to blame. The league’s report makes that harder here. New York still had chances after the Towns screen sequence. It still had a shot to survive the final possession. And it still came away with a loss.
Why the report matters before Game 3
The practical effect of the report is limited. The NBA is not changing the result, and the Knicks do not get those possessions back. But these reports do shape the tone around a series, especially when emotions are high after a one-point playoff game.
In this case, the report removes a potential excuse and puts the focus back on adjustments.
Can the Knicks clean up their late-game offense? Can they avoid the kind of empty possessions that opened the door for Atlanta’s rally? Can they respond on the road after letting a very winnable home game slip away?
Those questions are much bigger than whether one whistle was missed with 10.2 seconds to play.
And after the NBA’s review, they are the questions that deserve the attention going into Game 3.
NBA Announces Decision After Knicks Loss to Hawks in Game 2