ATLANTA (AP) — Karl-Anthony Towns had his first postseason triple-double, OG Anunoby scored 22 points and the New York Knicks recovered after back-to-back losses to beat the Atlanta Hawks 114-98 on Saturday night, tying the Eastern Conference playoff series at 2-2.
Towns had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. The 11th-year All-Star became the fourth Knicks player to record a triple-double in a playoff game, joining Walt Frazier, Dick McGuire and Josh Hart.
Click to Gallery
Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum, left, shoots against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, right, during the first half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye (18) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, center, shoots against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and forward Og Anunoby (8) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
The Knicks host Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, and the series is now guaranteed to return to Atlanta for Game 6 on Thursday.
New York took control midway through the first quarter and maintained the lead for the rest of the game. The Knicks held a 68-44 advantage at halftime and extended that lead to 20 points by the end of the third quarter.
All-Star guard Jalen Brunson, who had 19 points, thinks the Knicks carried momentum from a late surge in Game 3.
“Obviously, we didn't win Game 3, but I think the way we played in the second half as a team propelled us to play the way we did tonight,” he said. "We're trying to continue to push that forward.”
New York, after one-point losses in the previous two games, was able to return to form behind its core of Brunson, Towns and Anunoby.
“The way we've been able to (play on both sides of the ball) these past five quarters is how we've got to play," Brunson said.
Defensively, that means minimizing CJ McCollum, the point guard who carried the Hawks to Game 2 and 3 victories.
McCollum again led Atlanta in scoring with 17 points, but he didn't have the same impact as the last two games. New York held McCollum scoreless beyond the arc after he made nine 3-pointers in the first three games.
“CJ's a handful, so we've just got to keep trying to find ways to show him different looks,” Knicks coach Mike Brown said.
New York also held Nickeil Alexander-Walker to 15 points and All-Star Jalen Johnson to 14.
“Let’s go Knicks!” “Let’s go Knicks!” chants erupted through State Farm Arena as the Knicks led by as much as 24 points in the fourth quarter. Both teams had their reserves in with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Atlanta Hawks guard CJ McCollum, left, shoots against New York Knicks guard Josh Hart, right, during the first half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Mouhamed Gueye (18) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson, center, shoots against New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and forward Og Anunoby (8) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) drives to the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Jonathan Kuminga (0) during the second half in Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoffs basketball series, Thursday, April 23, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is addressing reporters at the White House after he and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after a shooting incident outside the ballroom.
The shooting suspect was identified as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California, two law enforcement officials told The Associated Press.
Trump said the suspect was armed with multiple weapons before stopped by Secret Service. One officer was shot, but he was protected by a bulletproof vest.
“He was shot from very close distance with a very powerful gun, and the vest did the job,” Trump said.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump was uninjured and other top leaders of the United States were evacuated from an annual dinner of White House correspondents on Saturday night after a shooting incident outside the ballroom.
One law enforcement official said a gunman had opened fire. A law enforcement officer was shot in the bullet-resistant vest but is expected to be OK, one officer told The Associated Press.
The FBI said a suspect was in custody but had no details.
The Secret Service and other authorities swarmed the banquet hall at the Washington Hilton as guests ducked under tables by the hundreds. Audible gasps echoed through the ballroom as guests realized something was happening. Hundreds of journalists got on phones to call in information.
“Out of the way, sir!” someone yelled. Others yelled to duck. From one corner, a “God Bless America” chant began as the president was escorted offstage. He fell briefly — he apparently tripped — and was helped up by Secret Service agents. Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.
Authorities said the incident occurred outside the subterranean ballroom where Trump and other guests were seated. After an initial attempt to resume, the event was scrapped for the night and will be rescheduled.
“We will do this again,” said Weijia Jiang, president of the White House Correspondents' Association. Shortly afterward, staff began breaking down table settings and the presidential lectern.
All officials protected by the Secret Service were evacuated. Those in attendance included Trump, Vice President JD Vance, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — and many other leaders of the Trump administration.
House Speaker Mike Johnson said he and his wife, Kelly, who both attended the event, were “praying for our country tonight.” The House Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, said “The violence and chaos in America must end."
Some in the crowd reported hearing what they believed to be five to eight shots fired. The banquet hall — where hundreds of prominent journalists, celebrities and national leaders were awaiting Trump’s remarks — was immediately evacuated. Members of the National Guard took up position inside the building as people were allowed to leave but not immediately reenter. Security outside was also extremely tight.
Republican Rep. MIke Lawler of New York, a guest at the dinner, said he heard a pop and “we didn’t know what the hell it was. And then you heard all sorts of things clatter.” Lawler said he gets “death threats often” and said “I think we live in a climate where everybody recognizes its a problem, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much of a problem it really is.”
The event had initially appeared set to resume after the disorder. Servers refolded napkins and refilled water glasses in preparation for Trump’s return. Another worker prepared the president’s teleprompter for the remarks he was scheduled to make.
Generally, the Hilton hotel, where the dinner has taken place for years, remains open to regular guests during the correspondents’ dinner, and security has typically been focused on the ballroom and rather than the hotel at large, with little screening for people not entering the dinner itself. In past years, that has created openings for disruptions in the lobby and other public spaces, including protests in which security moved to remove guests who unfurled banners or staged demonstrations.
Trump’s attendance at Saturday’s annual dinner in Washington for his first time as president is putting his administration’s often-contentious relationship with the press on full public display.
Trump arrived to an event where the leaders of a nation at war mingled with celebrities, journalists and even a puppet — Triumph the Insult Comic Dog — in a dinner that typically generates debate about whether the relationship between journalists and their sources should include socializing together and putting aside sometimes adversarial relationships.
Trump was being watched closely at the event held by the organization of reporters who cover him and his administration. Past presidents who have attended have generally spoken about the importance of free speech and the First Amendment, adding in some light roasts about individual journalists.
The Republican president did not attend during his first term or the first year of his second. He came as a guest in 2011, sitting in the audience as President Barack Obama, a Democrat, made some jokes about the New York real estate developer. Trump also attended as a private citizen in 2015.
Trump entered the banquet hall of the Washington Hilton to the strains of “Hail to the Chief” and greeted prominent journalists on the dais, also pausing to laud White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt with a cheerful pointing of his finger.
Past dinners have also featured comedians who poke at presidents. This year, the group opted to hire mentalist Oz Pearlman as the featured entertainment.
Between berating individual reporters, fighting organizations like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press in court and restricting press access to the Pentagon, the administration’s animus toward journalists has been a fixture of Trump’s second term.
On the eve of the dinner, nearly 500 retired journalists signed a petition calling on the association “to forcefully demonstrate opposition to President Trump’s efforts to trample freedom of the press.”
Jiang said the organization was fighting for all different forms of the press that have a line in to the American people. “I don’t think people realize how closely we are working with the White House,” she said on C-SPAN before the dinner convened. “The relationship is important. It can be complicated. It can be intense. But it is robust.”
Welcoming guests, Jiang alluded to the contentious relationship in thanking Leavitt “for everything your team does to work with us every day, whether you like it or not.”
Veteran reporter Manu Raju of CNN, as he entered the Washington Hilton for the dinner, said it was not his role to express his opinion on Trump’s relationship with the press. “I’m not an activist,” he said. “My job is not to protest.”
A few dozen protesters stood across the hotel in the runup to the event. One was dressed in a prison uniform, wearing a Hegseth mask and red gloves. Another carried a sign saying, “Journalism is dead.”
AP journalists Michael Balsamo, Zeke Miller and Anna Johnson contributed to this report. Follow him at http://x.com/dbauder and https://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.
President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
President Donald Trump speaks in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House after an unspecified threat at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Secret service agents respond during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Law enforcement responds to an incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
Guest evacuate after an incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
An abandoned wine glass sits in a bowl after an incident occurred at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Tom Brenner)
U.S. Secret Service agents respond on stage during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Donald Trump's motorcade vehicle heads back to the White House from ehe annual White House Correspondents' Association dinner in Washington, Saturday, April 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Members of law enforcement respond during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Guests leave the White House Correspondents Dinner following an incident Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
The National Guard respond to an incident at the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife Cheryl Hines pose for photographers at the annual White House Correspondents' Association Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
President Donald Trump arrives to the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
Code Pink co-founder Medea Benjamin speaks to the media after being removed from the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert)
People are seen outside of the White House Correspondents Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump's motorcade arrives at the White House Correspondents Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
A woman is escorted from the White House Correspondents' Dinner, Saturday, April 25, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)
President Donald Trump arrives on Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach Fla., Friday, April 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)