The New York Knicks may not be in huge danger quite yet, but they are inching perilously close to being so. After all, they are now down 2-1 in their 2026 NBA playoffs first-round matchup against the Atlanta Hawks after suffering a 109-108 defeat on Thursday night courtesy of a CJ McCollum game-winner.

The Knicks still had a chance to win the game, but they failed to execute properly on their final possession, leading to a Jalen Brunson turnover to seal the defeat.

New York has so many things to worry about; Mikal Bridges is looking like a shell of himself, Josh Hart put up quite a stinker of a shooting performance, and the Hawks appear to be getting into a groove. Be that as it may, Knicks head coach Mike Brown guaranteed that his team will come out strong in Game 4 on Saturday and will be “locked in”.

“It's a seven-game series for a reason. Stuff's gonna happen. Plenty of teams have been down one-two. Oklahoma City was down last year (in the NBA Finals) and they ended up winning it. I'm not saying we're gonna win it or anything like that. The reality of it is, it's seven games. You take one game at a time. Each game is its own entity,” Brown said, via SNY's Knicks Videos on X (formerly Twitter).

“It should sting because we gave ourselves a chance knowing we didn't play our basketball. So it should sting. But we need to feel it and get ready to be locked in for the next game, which we will be.”

Indeed, there is a long way to go before the series ends, and the Knicks can change the feel of their matchup against the Hawks by simply winning Game 4 and regaining homecourt advantage. This loss should be another wake-up call, as New York will need to be at its best to avoid going down a 3-1 hole.