64-2

For seven quarters, the New York Knicks had the Atlanta Hawks right where they wanted them. They had beaten them in game one of their best of seven series 113-102, and led them 91-79 going into the fourth quarter of game two. They were on the verge of going up 2-0. Outside the Garden, the fans were chanting "We want Boston," in anticipation of what looked like a four-game sweep. And then everything came crashing down. Atlanta outscored New York 28-15 over the final 12 minutes to eke out a narrow one-point win.

It was a devastating loss to a team many, myself included, thought would be a very tough opponent. Going into last night's game, the Knicks were 64-1 in the playoffs when taking a double-digit lead into the fourth quarter. Make that 64-2.

How could this have happen? How did a team as experienced as the Knicks unravel against a team that was making its first appearance in the postseason in seven years?

There was a lot of blame to go around, starting with:

1. Mike Brown: For 11 minutes, Brown inexplicably took his two best scorers - Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns - both out of the game, and went with a lineup that consisted primarily of Jose Alvarado, Jordan Clarkson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby and Mitchell Robinson. During that span, the Knicks were outscored by seven points. In another bizarre move, Brown elected to call a timeout with 2:43 left in the fourth quarter and New York in possession, leading 100-99. Brunson was driving to the basket when the whistle blew. That timeout would come back to haunt the Knicks as they were unable to stop the clock with 5.6 seconds left in the game, forcing Bridges to take a last second desperation shot that hit the rim and bounced away.

2. The Bench: Apart from Robinson (13 points and 7 rebounds) and Clarkson (7 and 5), the bench was MIA. Alvarado, Deuce McBride and Landry Shamet were a combined 0-7. McBride's performance was particularly disappointing, as the Knicks are counting on him to be the primary scorer off the bench. At least Alvarado was a plus 5; everyone else was a minus, including Robinson, who was a team-high minus 10.

3. Free Throws: After going 25-30 (83%) from the free throw line in game one, the Knicks went 17-27 (63%) in game two. Anunoby missed two critical free throws late in the fourth that could've given his team the win. The Knicks are not going to beat the Hawks missing that many free throws.

4. Jalen Brunson: I wrote before the series began that for the Knicks to advance Brunson could not be the only scorer on the team. And for the first three quarters of last night's game, the Captain was a ball distributer, assisting on seven baskets. But then in the fourth quarter, he became a ball hogger. Towns, who scored 14 points in the third quarter, took only two shots in the fourth. The Knicks offense stalled and had their worst output of the season.

The good news is that all four of these issues can and will be addressed going forward. Brown, hopefully, will not sit both Brunson and KAT at the same time, and will use his timeouts more judiciously; the bench, especially McBride, won't be so anemic; the Knicks will do much better from the free-throw line; and Brunson will get the ball to KAT instead of trying to win the game on his own. More good news: despite their fourth-quarter collapse last night, the Knicks are defending very well in this series. Their defensive rating of 108.7 is eighth among the 16 teams in the postseason. Atlanta, by comparison, is 10th. The Knicks did not lose because of their defense; they lost because of their offense, or lack thereof.

Which leads me to the bad news. Thanks to their malpractice, the Hawks now have the home-court advantage as they head back to Atlanta for the next two games, where they are 17-4 over the second half of the season. That means New York will have its work cut out for it trying to get a split. 

This is what happens when you don't take care of business; you give your opponent a lifeline. The Knicks could've had a stranglehold on this series; instead, they're in for the fight of their lives.

A fight they could well end up losing.