The first weekend of the 2026 NBA playoffs was decidedly drama free with all eight Game 1s being decided by at least nine points for the first time in league history. The Knicks and Hawks game us our first barnburner on Monday as Atlanta flipped a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 107-106 series-evening win in Game 2. 

Elsewhere, the Cavs took a 2-0 lead on the Raptors. The Timberwolves closed out the night by handing the Nuggets a home loss and evening their series at 1-1. We’ll have more on that game later, but for now, here are the winners and losers from Knicks-Hawks and Cavs-Raptors.

Winner: CJ McCollum

Five years after Trae Young took over New York in the 2021 playoffs, the Hawks have another MSG villain in CJ McCollum, who has been superb through the first two games and absolutely took over late in the fourth quarter on Monday as Atlanta evened the series 1-1. 

After Game 1, McCollum made a comment that Jalen Brunson, an accomplished on-court thespian, “thought we were at a Broadway show” as a reference to what he deemed a Brunson acting job on a McCollum jumper that resulted in a technical foul and $2,500 fine for the Atlanta guard. 

The combination of the foot to their superstar’s nether region and the subsequent dig in the press conference had the MSG crowd chanting “f— you, CJ” prior the start of and throughout Game 2.

McCollum responded with 32 points, including nine in the fourth quarter that New York entered with a 12-point lead. Down the stretch, McCollum cooked Brunson over and over. First, with just over two minutes remaining, he turned Brunson inside out before floating a high kiss off the glass to give Atlanta its first lead since the eight-minute mark of the third quarter. 

Thirty seconds later, he blew past Brunson again to extend Atlanta’s lead to three. 

After Brunson answered with a 3-pointer to tie the score, McCollum flowed right back into a nasty fading jumper from the left corner to put the Hawks in front again. 

Just for the drama, McCollum walked to the free-throw line with 5.6 seconds remaining with a chance to put Atlanta up three and bricked both of his attempts. Without a timeout, New York raced it the other way and got a pretty good look, but Mikal Bridges‘ jumper missed and Atlanta escaped with a shocking win. 

There were a number of Atlanta heroes down the stretch. Nickeil Alexander-Walker hit a huge 3, and then after McCollum had put the Hawks up two with that baseline fader, NAW stripped Brunson and raced it the other way for a find-and-finish with Jalen Johnson, who was also big in closing time after a tough game. 

But this was McCollum’s night, and it has been his series for the Hawks. Through two games, McCollum has drained 23 shots for 58 points. He has pushed the pace consistently, and in money time, he has been the go-to player for the Hawks. He’s no stranger to this. He’s been one of the league’s better one-on-one creators for years, and in his prime, there were few player you would trust more to get a bucket late in games. So far in this series, he’s proving he’s still got it on the big stage. 

Loser: Knicks’ fourth-quarter dominance

During the regular season, the Knicks owned the league’s best fourth-quarter plus-minus by a wide margin. In Game 2, that dominance flew right out the window. The 12-point blown lead matched the biggest playoff fourth-quarter collapse in franchise history (tied with the Reggie Miller choke game in 1994). 

After scoring 14 points in the third quarter, Karl-Anthony Towns went scoreless on just two shots in the fourth. He just wasn’t a part of the central actions down the stretch, which was a strange decision by Mike Brown as Towns enjoys a size advantage in this series and was coming off such a hot third. 

Brunson was getting trapped all over, and Towns would’ve been a natural outlet, but suddenly he wasn’t being used in ball screens. Again, strange. As was Brown’s decision to play the first four minutes of the fourth with both Brunson and Towns on the bench. The Hawks trimmed the deficit from 12 to nine in that stretch, which isn’t terrible, but perhaps a different rotational deployment could’ve given the Knicks a chance to extend the lead and put the game away before it got tight. 

Brown was asked about the non-Brunson/Towns minutes (coaches typically keep at least one of their stars on the court at all times whenever possible in playoff games, let alone in the fourth quarter), and he cited that the lineup in question performed well for the Knicks at the end of the regular season. But the end of the regular season is not the playoffs, and over the long haul, the numbers do not support Brown’s claim. 

Brown did the same thing in Game 1, and the Knicks also got away with in then as they only lost one point off their lead. But be wary of small-sample lineup data. Shot luck can make a bad decision look good, or at least defensible, from game to game, but for the Knicks to strip themselves of their two core offensive engines for crucial fourth quarter minutes is playing with fire. 

At any rate, this wasn’t the only problem. New York’s defense went in the gutter down the stretch, and a big part of that was Brunson being on the floor if we’re being honest. OG Anunoby coughed up a costly turnover. Their whole energy just turned casual, and the Hawks jumped on the opportunity to steal a huge road win that nobody saw coming 30 minutes earlier. 

Winner: Rudy Gobert

No player in the league is more disrespected than Gobert, who is talked about like he grifted his way into DPOY trophies like some kind of flopping free-throw merchant. The man has four DPOYs for a reason, and he should’ve finished in the top three this season again (the Wolves were 12 points better per 100 possessions defensively when he was on the floor, per CTG, performing at what would rank as the second-best defense with him and the third-worst without him).  

Gobert isn’t without his flaws, but he’s an all-time defender. Coming into the Timberwolves’ series with the Nuggets, it was fair to question how much Gobert having to guard Nikola Jokić straight up (the last time these two teams met in the playoffs Karl-Anthony Towns drew the main assignment, and Gobert was used as a roaming rim protector off ball), and through two games Gobert has more than acquitted himself against the world’s best player. 

Hell, in Game 1, Gobert scored 17 points. He rolled to the rim. Flashed in the pocket. Put back dunks. Sure, Jokić finished that game with 25 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists because he’s Nikola freaking Jokić, but it was not easy pickings. 

In Game 2, Gobert’s defense on Jokic was as good as anyone could possibly hope to play. Here, Jokić ends up with a bucket off a random loose ball, but the initial stop is all Gobert. 

Here he teams up with Jaden McDaniels to put on a two-man defensive clinic before stifling Jokić at the rim. 

On the ensuing possession, Gobert straight up stones Jokić and forces the miss that starts a leak-out dunk for Donte DiVincenzo. 

These are not second-quarter stops. This is money time. Under five minutes to play in a one-possession playoff game and he’s winning the battle against the world’s best player. 

Only two points of the game were huge, moving Jokić out of the way for an offensive board and poster put-back to give Minnesota a late four-point lead. And while his offense wasn’t nearly as impactful as it was in the opener, his lone bucket of the night was a huge one, and it again came as Jokic’s expense as Gobert muscled the three-time MVP out of the way for an offensive board before jamming the put-back dunk in his face to put Minnesota up four with two minutes to play. 

After Game 1, Jaden McDaniels said it was the best game that Gobert had played all season, and that if he kept it up, “we’re going to win this series.” Well, he did it again in Game 2, and the Wolves are headed home in a 1-1 tie with a chance to seize control of the series on Thursday. 

Winner: Cleveland’s Big Three

The Cavs took a 2-0 lead on the Raptors on Monday thanks to an extraordinary collective effort from a trio of stars. Donovan Mitchell, James Harden and Evan Mobley combined for 83 points on 66% shooting. It marks the fourth time in franchise history that three Cavaliers have scored at least 25 points in the same playoff game. Jarrett Allen was the only other player to score in double figures (10). This one was all about Cleveland’s Big Three. 

Mitchell, one of the most electric postseason scorers in history, has been dominant with 64 points through the first two games. Harden is averaging 25 points, seven assists and 3.5 steals for the series. Mobley wasn’t as effective defensively in Game 2 as he was in Game 1, but he has been a force offensively from the jump. 

Mobley isn’t going to have the huge numbers because of place in Cleveland’s hierarchy behind Mitchell and Harden, but the key is his energy and decisiveness in attacking every time he has the leverage to do so and he has done that to the tune of 20.5 PPG so far on a blistering 17-of-21 shooting. 

Loser: Brandon Ingram

Ingram had a brutal go of it in Toronto’s Game 2 loss, finishing with just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting. His 23.5 true-shooting percentage is the worst mark in franchise history for a single playoff game in which at least 15 shots were attempted (tying DeMar DeRozan‘s 4-for-17 stinker in Game 4 of the conference semis against Miami in 2016). 

Ingram came out hot in Game 1 but managed just one attempt in the second half as the Cavs kept a defender attached to him and Toronto fazed him out of focus. 

If Toronto has any chance of winning Game 3 at home and getting back into this series, Ingram has to play big. The Raptors are already playing uphill trying to keep up with the Cavs offensively. Without Ingram chipping in big time, they have no chance. 

Mike Brown arrived in New York with a laundry list of fan complaints to address from the tenure of his predecessor, Tom Thibodeau. In his first regular season on the job, he plucked basically all of that low-hanging fruit.

Shot-selection? The Knicks jumped from 28th to 12th in 3-point attempt rate. Lack of ball- and player-movement on offense? NBA.com tracking data shows the Knicks moved from 18th to 14th in passes per game and 21st to 10th in average distance traveled per game offensively. 

Lineups featuring both Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns didn’t defend well enough? Those lineups rated in the 41st percentile in terms of defensive efficiency last season, but the 52nd this season, according to Cleaning the Glass. Over-reliance on the starters? Last year, New York’s starting five played 940 regular-season minutes, 226 more than any other five-man unit. This year, it played 541, making it not even the most-used lineup in basketball. The Knicks are so deep that deadline acquisition Jose Alvarado didn’t even play in Game 1 against the Hawks. There are even rumors about standout rookie Mo Diawara being hidden ahead of his offseason restricted free agency. The Knicks suddenly have more depth than they know what to do with.

On paper, Brown’s first regular season should be viewed as an enormous success. It hasn’t felt that way mostly because, frankly, the regular season is no longer a meaningful barometer for this team’s performance. The Knicks have averaged around 50 wins over the past four seasons. They’ve won at least one playoff series three years in a row. When your owner goes on the radio and shares Finals expectations, the message is clear: all of those regular-season improvements are nice, but it means nothing if it doesn’t translate to the playoffs. Beating Washington and Brooklyn in March is nice. This year’s Eastern Conference runs through Detroit, Boston and Cleveland, three teams Tom Thibodeau beat in recent postseasons. They’re the measuring stick.

It turns out, Brown’s first major test as New York’s coach didn’t come against one of those teams. It came in the first round against a team the Knicks should have handled relatively comfortably. The Knicks held double-digit leads in both halves of Game 2 against the Atlanta Hawks, including a 12-point advantage at the start of the fourth quarter. New York hadn’t blown a lead that big with so little time left in a home playoff game since 1994 against the Pacers. They did so on Monday, and it was an almost entirely self-inflicted wound. If this was Brown’s first real test as New York’s head coach, he failed. 

Missing KAT

The most visible manner in which he did so came during that late-game collapse. With 4:24 remaining on the clock, Karl-Anthony Towns attempted and missed a 3-pointer. It was the last time he would touch the ball in the game. His involvement in the offense, to this point, was reduced to two screens: a “screen the screener” action to set Josh Hart up to screen for Jalen Brunson with a bit less than four minutes left and then a single ball-screen for Brunson with around 50 seconds remaining. Otherwise, he was essentially a spacer.

And hey, Towns is certainly capable of serving as a floor-spacer. In certain matchups, you’re probably fine with him doing that while Brunson cooks. In this, particular matchup, Towns had just scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the third quarter and was being defended by Jonathan Kuminga. Opponents have vexed New York’s offense for two years by putting a wing on Towns and a center on the weaker shooting Hart, and that was indeed the case down the stretch with Onyeka Okongwu taking the Hart matchup. Brown’s failure to solve that problem — one well-known a year ago — hardly bodes well for the later rounds.

It’s not as though Okongwu was lurking near the basket down the stretch, either. Hart was Brunson’s primary screener, so Okongwu was getting switched onto the ball far behind the arc. New York couldn’t take advantage largely because too much of their late-game offense revolved around players, usually Brunson, occasionally others, dribbling the air out of the ball and running out the clock. They’ve earned the right to do so. Brunson’s playoff heroics are well-chronicled, and New York had the NBA‘s No. 3 clutch offense this season. 

It just begs the question, if you’re not going to try to involve Towns in the offense, should he really be on the floor? You’re still getting some value out of having Towns on the floor as a spacer, but size is New York’s big advantage in this series. If you’re not actively taking advantage of the mismatches he gets, you might as well close with Mitchell Robinson and emphasize defense to hold your lead.

It was the culmination of issues that have plagued Towns and the Knicks all year. He attempted a career-low 13.8 field goals per game this season. “I mean, our offense is our offense,” Towns said after a February game New York lost to Detroit despite the Pistons missing their top two centers. “It’s been that way all year.” Through two playoff games, Towns has attempted 25 total shots. Not exactly ideal usage for a max-contract, offense-centric center playing against an undersized opponent.

A staggering problem?

The Knicks could get away with this if it were simply a crunch-time issue. Remember, the Hawks outscored them by eight in the last three-and-a-half minutes or so of Game 1, including an 11-0 run that surely gave Knicks fans flashbacks to their Game 1 collapse against Indiana a year ago. It didn’t matter because they’d built an insurmountable 19-point lead. New York’s lead was smaller in Game 2 — only eight points with five minutes to go — largely because of mismanaged bench lineups.

The Knicks sat Brunson and Towns at the same time for around 12 total minutes in Game 2. They lost those minutes by eight points. There is an apparent strategic purpose for that decision. The Knicks have thus far mostly avoided overlapping minutes between Towns and Robinson in this matchup. It makes sense to play Robinson early in quarters or in the last two minutes as a deterrent to intentional fouling—the former because it gets the Knicks into the bonus early, the latter because off-ball fouls in the last two minutes go for one shot and the ball rather than two shots. Brunson sits early in the second and fourth quarters, so now, apparently, so does Towns.

The problem with not staggering them, though, is that lineups featuring Towns and no Brunson now have a pretty lengthy track record of success. Over the past two regular seasons, the Knicks have a +11.5 net rating in those minutes, and last postseason, it was +14.9. These lineups tend to perform admirably defensively, but they’re also a way to keep Towns engaged in the offense for those later moments that too often become Brunson-centric. Asking bench lineups without their top two — or sometimes three — creators to score effectively is just too tall an order. Atlanta turned a nine-point first-quarter deficit into a brief second-quarter lead during a run in which New York played with just a single starter, first OG Anunoby, and then Hart, on the floor.

Brown argued in favor of the lineups featuring no Brunson or Towns. “I don’t (think) the game got away there,” he told reporters. “We’ve played that lineup at end of regular season and it was pretty good.” As Clippers reporter Justin Russo noted, Brown was technically correct. The Knicks were +32 with both of them off of the floor after March 1… but they were -63 in such situations before that. Considering the way Game 2 played out, it’s hard not to question the move not to stagger the two stars. It’s harder to get away with star-less minutes against playoff-level opponents and scouting.

A poorly timed timeout

Every point, every decision potentially matters in games like this. Case in point: this game was decided by one. The game ended on a frantic sequence in which CJ McCollum missed two free throws, and Mikal Bridges wound up taking and missing a contested, game-winning jumper. Though there was confusion on the broadcast, New York didn’t have a timeout it could have used to draw something else up. However, Brown’s decision-making earlier in the quarter was partially responsible for that.

Teams are only allowed to use two timeouts in the last three minutes of a half. Brown could have taken a “use it or lose it” timeout before the three-minute mark. He didn’t, and instead decided to take one with 2:43 remaining. “A couple of possessions weren’t fluid so I wanted to make sure we had something we wanted to get to,” Brown explained after that game. However, that meant that the timeout Brown used with 10 seconds remaining to set up the Brunson 3-pointer that pulled New York within a point was the last one the Knicks could use in regulation.

Brown wasn’t sure if he actually would have used the timeout if he’d had it. “Five to seven seconds is close,” he explained. “It would’ve been my gut feel. There’s a chance I could’ve taken a timeout, if I had one, and then there’s a chance I wouldn’t have. I thought it was a good shot, Mikal got up the floor, I thought he got to his spot. He was a little off balance, but I don’t think the shot was under a ton of duress. That’s shots that he’s hit for us in the past.”

Even if it’s a shot Bridges is capable of making, it probably isn’t the one you’d draw up for such a situation. You’ve leaned on Brunson in such situations all year and all games. You just drew up a bucket for him seconds of game time earlier. Even against a set defense, you’re better off trying to set him up again. 

Brown isn’t the only reason New York lost Game 2. It’s hard to miss 10 free throws and win a close playoff game. McCollum made a number of well-contested shots down the stretch. But playoff games go haywire sometimes. Think back to that Game 1 loss against the Pacers for the Knicks a year ago. Sometimes your opponent makes a bunch of shots they shouldn’t. Sometimes your players miss shots they should make. There’s nothing you can do about that. But it’s a coach’s job to insulate their team against those outlier moments. Build a big enough lead, pluck enough of the low-hanging fruit, and those moments won’t hurt you as often. 

Thibodeau got fired because he didn’t do that. He left the Knicks vulnerable, and the Pacers punished them for it. Brown addressed a lot of what went wrong for him a season ago, but Game 2 represented his first high-stakes game that fell within that margin for outlier error. The Hawks took advantage. No matter where you stand on the Towns usage dilemma, especially late in games, those unorthodox lineup choices ultimately doomed the Knicks against Atlanta, and their chance at drawing something up for a better final response was lost on questionable timeout usage. Now the series is tied, and home-court advantage is sacrificed. There’s a long way to go, but the onus is on Brown to right the ship moving forward.

David Benavidez is set for an intriguing cruiserweight clash next month as he challenges for Gilberto Ramirez’s unified titles at 200lbs.

‘The Mexican Monster’ is keen to build on his legacy and has accepted a daring step up for this scrap with WBA and WBO champion Ramirez, who has lost only once in his 49 career fights to date.

Benavidez remains the WBC light-heavyweight world champion and has vowed to return the 175lbs division, regardless of the outcome of his clash with ‘Zurdo’, planning on challenging Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed light-heavyweight throne.

Speaking on the Unscripted podcast with Josh Mansour, recently stripped two-time IBF cruiserweight champion Jai Opetaia revealed that he expects Benavidez to come out on top, despite his inexperience at the weight.

“I reckon Benavidez will get it. It will be a good fight and there will be a lot of punches thrown because both of them are just workhorses, they are typical Mexicans.”

Opetaia then went on to plead for the opportunity to face the victor, keen to regain a traditional world title.

“I don’t care who wins. Please, let’s just fight [the winner] afterwards.”

Opetaia was the first major signing of Dana White’s promotion, Zuffa Boxing, and fought for the organisation’s cruiserweight belt in his debut. Because of this, he was stripped of the IBF belt he fought so hard to win on two occasions.

It means that he no longer presents the opportunity to unify the division in the traditional manner, meaning that, other than challenging one of the best fighters in the division, there lies no championship reward for Benavidez or ‘Zurdo.’

Manchester United-linked Noah Sadiki has been valued at around £45 million ahead of a potential summer move from Sunderland, according to latest reports.

TEAMTalk claim that both Chelsea and United are showing an interest in the midfielder, although the Blues are currently the ‘most active’.

It’s reported that Liam Rosenior’s side have held talks with the player’s representatives over a possible £45 million move.

United are also said to have held discussions even before the player moved to Sunderland last summer, with suggestions of a swap deal in discussions.

Atlanta United and New England Revolution will battle for three points in MLS Eastern Conference action on Wednesday (April 22nd). The game will be played at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

The home side are coming into the game on the back of a 2-0 defeat to Nashville SC at the same venue over the weekend. Cristian Espinoza broke the deadlock just past the hour mark, while Shak Mohammed stepped off the bench to secure the win in injury time.

The Revolution, meanwhile, claimed maximum points with a 2-1 comeback home win over Columbus Crew. They went into the break behind to Max Arfsten’s 24th-minute strike, but Dor Turgeman equalized nine minutes into the second half. Carles Gil scored the match-winner from the spot with five minutes to go.

The win saw them climb to fifth spot in the Eastern Conference standings, having garnered 12 points from seven games. Atlanta United are second-from-bottom with four points to their name.

Atlanta United vs New England Revolution Head-to-Head and Key Numbers

• New England Revolution have seven wins from the last 17 head-to-head games. Atlanta United were victorious six times, while four games ended in draws.
• Their most recent clash came in September 2025 when the Revolution claimed a 2-0 home win.
• The away side on the day have won just one of the last eight head-to-head games (five losses).
• The Revolution have lost their last six away games on the bounce.
• Atlanta United have won just one of eight league games this season, losing six matches in this run.
• Five of the Revolution’s seven league games this term have produced three goals or more.

Atlanta United vs New England Revolution Prediction

Atlanta United have made a poor start to the season. They started the league campaign with a win against Philadelphia Union in their opening home game of the season, but are winless in three games since then (two losses).

New England Revolution, for their part, have been more consistent and are unbeaten in their last four competitive games (three wins in regulation time).

We expect the two sides to battle it out in an entertaining and high-scoring stalemate.

Prediction: Atlanta United 2-2 Philadelphia Union

Atlanta United vs New England Revolution Betting Tips

Tip 1 – Result: Draw

Tip 2 – Both teams to score

Tip 3 – Over 2.5 goals

Bold Tip – Both teams to score over 1.5 goals