The Evening TiltMcCollum's Fadeaway, Ritchie's Debut, and a Two-Win Night for Atlanta

Two stories tonight in Atlanta sports. Both finished. Both worth your time.

Hawks 109, Knicks 108 — Final | Hawks lead series 2-1

CJ McCollum hit a midrange fadeaway over Miles McBride with 12.5 seconds remaining. Jalen Brunson caught the inbound, drove into a double team along the baseline, and turned the ball over. Jonathan Kuminga recovered the ball. Game.

The Hawks have now won two straight against the Knicks by a combined 2 points. They trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter of Game 2 at MSG and won. They survived OG Anunoby's 29 points, Karl-Anthony Towns's 21-and-17 double-double, and Brunson's 26 tonight and won. The Knicks were -275 pre-series favorites. That number is history.

Jalen Johnson finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and 8 assists in his first home playoff game as an All-Star. Kuminga had 21 off the bench on 9-for-14 shooting. Dyson Daniels grabbed 13 rebounds. McCollum finished with 23 points, including the shot that will define this series if Atlanta closes it.

State Farm Arena hosted its first playoff game since 2023. The building answered.

Worth your time: Simone Edgewood on what certainty sounds like inside State Farm Arena — The Answer Was Certainty. Dex Ponce raised his series confidence to 88% — 88%. Bookmark This Too.

Braves 7, Nationals 2 — Final

J.R. Ritchie threw 89 pitches in his MLB debut and got 21 outs. Seven innings, seven strikeouts, two earned runs. That line makes him the first pitcher in Braves franchise history to hit all three marks in a debut. He is 22.

Ozzie Albies went 3-for-4 with four RBI, including a two-run single that broke open a four-run seventh and a solo home run in the ninth. Michael Harris II went 3-for-4 before exiting in the seventh with left quad tightness. The team called it precautionary.

The Braves completed a 6-1 road trip, improved to 18-8, and their +62 run differential is the best in baseball.

Worth your time: Ellis Magnolia's full piece on Ritchie's debut — Eighty-Nine Pitches and Twenty-One Outs.

The short version. Atlanta went 2-0 tonight. The Hawks lead a playoff series for the first time since 2021. The Braves are 18-8 with a +62 run differential, the best in baseball. McCollum has the midrange shot everybody says doesn't work. Ritchie has the debut nobody in 155 years of franchise history matched. Game 4 is Saturday at 6 PM. The Braves come home to face the Phillies.