Trailing 1-0 in their first-round series, the Knicks were down 15 points late in the second quarter Wednesday night in Game 2.
Julius Randle was horrendous again, and Trae Young, Atlanta’s superstar point guard, was soaring in the face of the Garden’s derogatory chants.
But it all changed dramatically in the second half. Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau finally started Derrick Rose at point guard and gritty Taj Gibson at center to begin the third quarter, and regular-season Randle showed up.
It all added up to a ferocious Knicks rally and a resounding 101-92 victory over the Hawks before a rocking 15,000-plus fans at the Garden.
“We needed more energy,’’ Gibson said, “and it worked.’’
With starter Elfrid Payton not playing after intermission, Rose scored 26 points. Randle fired in 13 of his 15 points in the second half and Reggie Bullock awakened from a 3-point drought as the Garden became bedlam.
The Knicks showed immense defensive force, Gibson seemed to wind up with every loose ball and they have evened the best-of-seven series at one game apiece. The series shifts to Atlanta for Friday’s Game 3.
“We just felt we were flat and we needed a jolt of energy,’’ Thibodeau said of the change. “So we wanted to change it up. It started with the defense and we started sharing the ball, spraying it out, got some looks and we made shots. We started out slowly and our bench came in and played pretty good, then we closed the second quarter slowly. And I just wanted to change it up. I thought we had to do something different and that’s why you have a bench. Those guys came in and played great.”
Thibodeau stuck to his guns and kept Payton as the starter. The Knicks fell behind early and were getting pummeled by 15 late in the first half.
“Just more intensity, trying to be in them on the defensive end,’’ Bullock said of the second-half surge. “We were trying to make them feel us, just trying to get back to how we’ve been playing all year. We just had to pick it up in the second half and it worked out for us.’’
Randle finally found his mojo, barreling to the basket for buckets and drilling a 3-pointer on the first possession of the second half after the Knicks trailed by 13 at intermission. It wasn’t a Randle domination, but it was enough.
“There’s a great will and determination to him,’’ Thibodeau said. “Julius hit that shot and he kept coming. He’s got a great will and determination. Obviously we were disappointed in the way he played in the first half, but he’s a fighter. The first five minutes he came out with energy and we got going.’’
Rose was brilliant all game. He made 9 of 21 shots — and all six of his free throws. And Gibson, Rose’s longtime Bulls teammate, brought his playoff mettle.
“It’s a dogfight, it’s who could swing the longest for the most rounds,’’ said Gibson, who grabbed seven rebounds, added three steals and was a plus-23. “Nobody believed in us and we stayed the course.’’
Bullock, who didn’t have a 3-pointer in Game 1, finally caught fire from deep to hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the third-quarter spurt and one with 3:26 left to stave of a Hawks’ charge. Bullock finished 4 of 7 from 3-point land.
The Hawks went stone cold in the second half. Ex-Knick Danilo Gallinari and Bogdan Bogdanovic were European brickmasters. Gallinari was 2 of 8 from 3 and Bogdanovic finished 2 of 13 from deep.
The Garden’s roof nearly blew off its hinges after Alec Burks fed a long alley-oop pass for an Obi Toppin dunk as the Knicks went up by 10 points, 88-78 with 8:34 left in the fourth quarter.
Young finished with 30 points and seven assists.
Incredibly, Randle, ragged in Game 1, didn’t have a field goal in the first half while Young dished and swished and led Atlanta to a 57-44 halftime lead.
The derogatory chants aimed at Young were still there, with the same profane one from Game 1. When that didn’t work, the fans started chanting in the second quarter, “Trae Young’s balding.’’
Meanwhile, Young, despite the Knicks attempts to get the ball out of his hands, poured in 20 first-half points with four assists. Young created space to hit 4 of 6 from 3, three of them a few feet behind the arc.
Randle was presented the Most Improved Player Award in a pregame ceremony with the Knicks front office, but then couldn’t get anything going to confirm his new status. Randle finished the half with two points, both on free throws, going 0-for-6. He didn’t notch his first points until 4:13 left in the half.
And then the Knicks’ magic happened.
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