Knicks fall short in brutal late-game collapse against Hawks

ATLANTA — The Knicks and Jalen Brunson again failed when it mattered most. 

Finishing up a long road trip in disappointing fashion, the Knicks were outscored by 10 points in the final 2:20 and fell Wednesday to the Hawks, 121-116, at State Farm Arena. 

Brunson, coming off his dud at the end of Monday’s loss to the Rockets, was part of the collapse again. He managed just four points in the fourth quarter, unable to counter a strong finish by Trae Young. 

The Knicks captain finished with just 21 points on 8 of 18 shooting with three turnovers and just four assists 

“Like s–t,” Brunson said when asked to assess his play. “Because I have my own expectations and I haven’t lived up to them.” 

It was a tight game throughout and then a sloppy end as the struggling Knicks (3-4) wrapped up a 2-2 road trip.

They were leading by five after a trey by Karl-Anthony Towns with three minutes remaining, their biggest advantage of the second half.

They then missed on two straight possessions before Brunson hit one of two free throws to give the Knicks a one-point lead with 80 seconds left. 

With the Knicks (3-4) trailing by one on probably the game’s most important possession, Brunson had a potential 3-pointer when isolated against Atlanta’s Clint Capela.

But he hesitated and dished it to the corner for a contested trey from Towns, whose shot bounced off the rim. 

Atlanta (4-5) got the rebound, dunked in transition and never looked back.

Brunson said he would’ve made the same play if given a redo. 

“They were all loaded up on me,” Brunson said. “And KAT has a higher release point where nobody can really contest his shot. I thought it was a good shot. The ball hit the rim at a certain angle and they were off to the races.” 

Young, who finished with 23 points, rediscovered his role as Knicks nemesis, stepping to the microphone immediately after the game and declaring, “I hope these New York fans find their way to the exits real, real quick.” 

After winning their opening two games of the trip — including an impressive finish over the Heat — the Knicks will come back to the Garden for Friday’s game against the Bucks on a two-game losing streak. 

“We just got to get better. Sixth game [of the season]. Had a good one in Miami and it was kind of a letdown after that,” said Mikal Bridges, who disappeared in Atlanta with just 10 points in 38 minutes. “I think we got too excited. We just got to build off these games. Obviously it sucks to learn from losses, but that’s what we got to do. 

“It’s tough. Starting off hot and not ending how we wanted to. But just learn from it.” 

Brunson was locked up by defensive specialist Dyson Daniels, a rangy guard who leads the NBA in deflections because of his quickness and size at 6-foot-5.

Brunson’s first half was a ride on the struggle bus with three turnovers, zero assists and eight points on 3 of 8 shooting. 

“He competes,” Brunson said of Daniels. “You got to give him credit. He competed really well.” 

Despite Brunson’s struggles, the ball moved a little better Wednesday than in Houston.

But the defense and rebounding took a turn for the worse.

The Hawks grabbed 16 offensive boards compared to the Knicks’ seven.

Atlanta made 15 treys while shooting 45 percent overall.

Young finished with 23 points and 10 assists.

Rookie Zaccharie Risacher dropped a career-high 33 points. 

“End of a long road trip, we came out sluggish,” Josh Hart said. “We kind of let them operate offensively. Kind of how they wanted and then offensively we weren’t crisp. I think we had 15 turnovers or whatever for the day. We’ve got to find a way. Houston, it was a winnable game at the end of the game. This game obviously very winnable at the end of the game. We’ve got to be able to put teams away at the end of close games.” 

The Hawks are stuck in between rebuilding and gunning for the playoffs.

They have Young, 26, who is in the middle of a max contract extension.

They’re also starting Risacher, a 19-year-old rookie and first-overall pick who dropped 22 in the opening half on Wednesday.

They traded Dejounte Murray for Daniels and rebuilding pieces.

They were missing Wednesday two of their top players, Bogdan Bogdanovic and DeAndre Hunter, both injured. 

But the Knicks couldn’t capitalize, and they better hope this is just growing pains.