The Atlanta Hawks stunningly came back to beat the New York Knicks 107-106 in Game 2 of their first-round series in the 2026 NBA Playoffs on Monday night at Madison Square Garden.
It was a rough collapse by the Knicks, and New York head coach Mike Brown took a lot of heat for not calling a timeout on the final possession.
“ATLANTA COMES ALL THE WAY BACK FROM 14 DOWN AND TIES THE SERIES! THEY WIN GAME 2 AT MSG, 107-106!”
Noah Eagle with the Hawks-Knicks Game 2 call for NBC. 🏀🎙️ #NBA pic.twitter.com/Wae0tcu2DA
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2026
However, the Knicks didn’t actually have a timeout remaining.
As Atlanta’s CJ McCollum went to the foul line to shoot the first of two free throws, the NBC scorebug showed that the Knicks had zero timeouts remaining. But after McCollum missed the first attempt, the NBC scorebug then showed that the Knicks had one timeout left.
“New York will take its timeout almost guaranteed here,” NBC play-by-play announcer Noah Eagle said.
McCollum missed the second free throw as well, and as the Knicks got the rebound and raced down the floor in transition, Eagle said, “No timeout called.”
Watch what happens here: after CJ’s miss, a timeout is incorrectly added to the graphic.
The producer/director in Noah Eagle + Jamal Crawford’s ear, or possibly the statistician who sits next to them during the broadcast, is likely telling them the Knicks DO have a timeout.
You… https://t.co/dkgqzDEBhw pic.twitter.com/50ShtAyv8I
— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) April 21, 2026
The Knicks did NOT have a timeout left
NBA teams are allowed a maximum of two timeouts in the final 3 minutes of the 4th quarter.
Knicks used a timeout with 2:43 left in the 4Q and 0:10 left in the 4Q (to set up the Brunson 3PT) pic.twitter.com/Sa0DfmOOqp
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) April 21, 2026
Some of the criticism that was initially directed at Brown for the final play was, instead, later directed at NBC for incorrectly demonstrating that the Knicks had a timeout remaining.
And at halftime of Game 2 between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets (a game that NBC took its sweet time to show), NBA on NBC studio host Maria Taylor addressed the mistake.
Maria Taylor: “We just want to say that the scoreboard showed a timeout that the Knicks did not have on the final play, but due to a data issue, the wrong timeout information was communicated. So, that’s why you see a timeout on the (NBC) scorebug.” 🏀📺 #NBA #NBC https://t.co/HYmVpAyBh9 pic.twitter.com/ScKbussPZg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 21, 2026
“We just want to say that the scoreboard showed a timeout that the Knicks did not have on the final play, but due to a data issue, the wrong timeout information was communicated,” Taylor said. “So, that’s why you see a timeout on the scorebug.”
After showing the Hawks-Knicks highlights, Taylor added, “[Carmelo Anthony’s] head was down. He had to touch the monitor to even believe what had happened in this Knicks game.”
“Well, I was touching the screen because I was under the impression that there was a timeout,” Anthony, an NBA on NBC analyst and Knicks legend, explained. “So, thank you for correcting that.”
With the timeout gaffe, along with taking several minutes before showing the Timberwolves-Nuggets game after it had already started, it wasn’t the best night for NBC.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.