SI:AM | Madison Square Garden Gets Its Next Villain

Good morning, I’m Tyler Lauletta, filling in for your usual host, Dan Gartland, who picked up his second technical foul and was ejected from the game. It was a bad call! Can’t wait to see the Last Two Minute report. On to the newsletter.

In today’s SI:AM:

🏀 Mamba legacy

🏉 Orr’s mock draft

🤝 Harden deal paying off

CJ McCollum becomes New York’s latest villain

Heading into the NBA playoffs, it was worth wondering how much juice the Hawks-Knicks first-round series would have. Sure, the two sides had traded blows in the postseason five years ago, resulting in a rivalry that was certainly loud if nothing else, but Trae Young, now on the Wizards, was at the center of that rivalry. The chants that had sounded across Madison Square Garden weren’t “F--- Atlanta,” they were “F--- Trae Young.”

The Knicks took care of business in Game 1 and looked well on their way to taking the second home game of the series on Monday night, until a new villain emerged: CJ McCollum.

New York held a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter after controlling the action for the majority of the game. The Knicks slowly let their advantage evaporate in the final frame, with Atlanta chipping away possession by possession. When the Hawks finally took their first lead since the second quarter with just two minutes to play, it was McCollum who scrambled Jalen Brunson and drove for the bucket that pushed the score to 101–100. He extended that lead to three on Atlanta’s next possession, and, after Brunson responded with a three of his own, McCollum silenced the home crowd with another bucket.

But the moment McCollum cemented his status as New York’s new public enemy No. 1 came at the foul line. Another Brunson three cut the Hawks’ lead to 107–106, and a foul sent McCollum to the line for two shots. Given how quickly Brunson had gotten the previous bucket up, there was a clear energy in the building: Just give the Knicks a shot, and they could do this.

McCollum stepped up to the line … and missed both shots. Josh Hart came down with the rebound and passed up to Mikal Bridges, who was running the floor. Bridges took the slightest hesitation instead of going straight to the basket, stopped for a jumper along the baseline and missed. Game over.

The last time the Knicks blew a 12-point fourth-quarter lead in the playoffs? Let’s just say Reggie Miller was involved.

Had McCollum simply been the one to score the last few points for the Hawks, he would have been disliked, sure. But what makes a villain isn’t just doing the bad deed—it’s getting away with it too. When he missed both his free throws, the crowd cheering on the Knicks felt the energy shift—missing two free throws is a basketball sin that the basketball gods will make you pay for. Except this time, they didn’t.

After the game, McCollum did his best to deny the villain role. “I'm not a villain, man, I'm just here to compete,” he said while being interviewed on the court. (Knicks fans had chanted “F--- you CJ” during the third quarter.) At the podium a few minutes later, he reiterated that he wasn’t looking to make a scene. “I ain't no villain. I'm a nice guy with two kids and a wife. I think it's admiration. Great passionate fans in a really hostile environment. It's fun, it's basketball, it's the playoffs. If anything I think it's a sign of respect."

But asked about the animosity aimed at him from the fans in New York, McCollum conceded that he was enjoying himself. “I love it. It’s why we play the game. It's fun being in opposing arenas and when the buzzer sounds and it's quiet… and you walk off the court."

While he clearly isn’t quite embracing the role in the same way Young had, these things have a way of sorting themselves out. If McCollum is destined to be the next villain of the Garden, it’s going to happen whether he chooses to ride the wave or not.

A playoff series doesn’t start until a team wins on the road. By that adage, this series between the Knicks and the Hawks marks the start of just the second real series this postseason. The Knicks now head to Atlanta for two games. Whatever happens there, both teams will be back in the Garden a week from tonight.

Expect McCollum to receive quite the welcome.

The best of Sports Illustrated

For six years, Amalia Holguin has grappled with the grief from a helicopter crash that robbed her of AAU teammates and her coach. Emma Baccellieri reports on how the youngest member of Kobe Bryant’s Team Mamba is ready to show the world what he taught her.
Conor Orr’s NFL mock draft features two teams trading up into the top five, including one Super Bowl contender making a big play for Jeremiyah Love.
Chris Mannix writes that the Cavaliers' bold move to acquire James Harden is paying off, with the 11-time All-Star forming a two-headed monster alongside Donovan Mitchell and giving Cleveland a chance to end its recent postseason failures.
Over the past two seasons, Tom Verducci says that a massive change has gained widespread adoption among pitchers.
Stephanie Apstein contends that the Padres’ sale could be a model for other small-market franchises—if only those other teams learn the right lesson.
Pat Forde goes inside the Louisville athletic department’s push to stay competitive despite mounting deficits.

The top five…

…things I saw last night:

5. This is the right way to celebrate a charge.

4. The Spurs’ jumbotron bullying fans into wearing their shirts.

3. The Flyers pulled off a two-on-one as perfect as it was unlikely.

2. Buffalo fans party hard, but respect barriers.

1. I don’t know how many things in sports are better than a double-overtime game-winner in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Whatever the list is, it’s not a long one.

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