The New York Knicks secured their first NBA play-off win in eight years and levelled their series with the Atlanta Hawks at 1-1 courtesy of a powerful second-half performance from three-time All-Star Derrick Rose.
New York, in front of a raucous Madison Square Garden, were down by 16 points at the start of the second half when they turned to the 2008 number one draft pick.
Rose delivered with 26 points, including the basket that gave the Knicks the lead for good with just under five minutes left on the clock of game two in the first-round clash.
First playoff victory since 2013 and we needed this one! Let's keep fighting. #NewYorkForever pic.twitter.com/16uYvwwXzi — NEW YORK KNICKS (@nyknicks) May 27, 2021
Trae Young finished with 30 points for the Hawks as he received constant negative chants from a home crowd of more than 15,000 but he could not prevent a 101-92 defeat.
Donovan Mitchell made an impressive return from injury for the Western Conference top seeds Utah Jazz, who also moved to 1-1 in their series as they bounced back from a first-game loss against the Memphis Grizzlies.
🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️*deep breath*🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/ZDUD0rdpNR — utahjazz (@utahjazz) May 27, 2021
The 24-year-old guard's previously sprained ankle held up as he scored 25 points including five three-pointers in just 26 minutes while Rudy Gobert added 21 more plus 13 rebounds.
Ja Morant poured in 47 points to break Mike Conley's Grizzlies play-off record, with Conley scoring 21 along with a career-best 15 assists as Memphis lost 141-129 in Salt Lake City.
The Philadelphia 76ers went 2-0 up against Washington thanks to a 120-95 victory, during which the Wizards' point guard Russell Westbrook went down with a leg injury in the fourth quarter.
22 PTS apiece for Simmons and Embiid in the @sixers (2-0) Game 2 W! #HereTheyCome #NBAPlayoffs @BenSimmons25: 22 PTS, 9 REB, 8 AST@JoelEmbiid: 22 PTS, 7 REB pic.twitter.com/GOb6GyrWDY — NBA (@NBA) May 27, 2021
The 32-year-old had to limp off following the collision with Philadelphia's Furkan Korkmaz and was restrained by security after a fan threw popcorn at him as he walked down the tunnel.
Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons each had 22 points for the 76ers, while Bradley Beal top-scored for the losing side with 33 including 24 in just the first half.
