Hawks rally for a 108-100 victory over the Knicks and a trip to the NBA Cup semifinals

NEW YORK (AP) — Trae Young had 22 points and 11 assists, De'Andre Hunter and Jalen Johnson outplayed the Knicks frontcourt and the Atlanta Hawks took their surprising NBA Cup run all the way to the semifinals in Las Vegas, beating New York 108-100 on Wednesday night.

Hunter scored 24 points and Johnson had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists for the Hawks, who were perhaps the surprise team of the tournament after knocking off the defending champion Celtics in Boston and NBA-leading Cleveland Cavaliers in group play to reach the knockout stage as the No. 3 seed in the East.

Now they will face another East power, the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, on Saturday in a semifinal matchup.

Josh Hart scored 21 points and Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points and 19 rebounds for the Knicks, who went 4-0 in group play and shot out to a 12-point lead Wednesday. But as in the 2021 playoffs, it was Young who was celebrating on the floor of Madison Square Garden after eliminating the Knicks.

Hawks: Just advancing out of a tough pool group would have been a great experience for some young Hawks players. Now they can go and win the whole thing with two victories in Las Vegas.

Knicks: One of the favorites to win the tournament had a shockingly poor second half and fell to 0-2 against Atlanta this season.

The Knicks led 66-62 before Young scored eight straight points, pointing to the floor after a 31-footer for his second consecutive 3-pointer. Hunter then hit a 3 to cap an 11-0 surge during which Atlanta took its first lead of the game and went ahead 73-66.

Atlanta outscored New York 61-46 in the second half.

While the Hawks go to Las Vegas, the Knicks will go to Orlando for a game Sunday.

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Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young (11) drives past New York Knicks' Mikal Bridges during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Atlanta Hawks' Onyeka Okongwu (17) shoots over New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Atlanta Hawks' Onyeka Okongwu (17) shoots over New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and OG Anunoby (8) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Atlanta Hawks' Jalen Johnson (1) drives past New York Knicks' Miles McBride (2) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau calls out to his team during the first half of an Emirates Cup NBA basketball game against the Atlanta Hawks Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young (11) drives past New York Knicks' Josh Hart (3) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) and Jalen Brunson (11) defend Atlanta Hawks' De'Andre Hunter (12) during the first half of an Emirates Cup NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

Atlanta Hawks' Trae Young (11) drives past New York Knicks' Karl-Anthony Towns (32) during an Emirates Cup NBA basketball game Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

A judge declared a mistrial Wednesday in the case of Sheldon “Timothy” Herrington Jr. in the 2022 killing of Jimmy “Jay” Lee, a gay man who was prominent in the LGBTQ+ community at the University of Mississippi.

Jurors said they were unable to reach a verdict after over nine and a half hours of deliberation.

Lee’s body has never been found, but a judge declared him dead.

Herrington, 24, was charged with capital murder, which Mississippi law defines as a killing committed along with another felony — in this case, kidnapping. Prosecutors had said they would not seek the death penalty. He had faced life in prison.

Jurors were told they could also consider lesser charges of first-degree murder, punishable by life in prison; second-degree murder, 20 years to life; or manslaughter, up to 20 years.

Both Herrington and Lee had graduated from the University of Mississippi. Lee, 20, was pursuing a master’s degree. He was known for his creative expression through fashion and makeup and often performed in drag shows in Oxford, according to a support group called Justice for Jay Lee.

Lee disappeared July 8, 2022, in Oxford, where the university is located and the trial was held.

Police arrested Herrington two weeks after Lee vanished. Investigators testified that they used warrants to obtain electronic records including explicit messages between social media accounts belonging to the two men and online searches conducted by Herrington, including one inquiring how long it takes to strangle someone.

Prosecutors said during closing arguments Wednesday that Herrington and Lee had a sexual encounter that ended badly and Lee left Herrington’s apartment. They said text messages showed that Herrington, who was not openly gay, persuaded Lee to return with the promise of more sex. Prosecutors said Lee was killed after going back.

“Tim Herrington lived a lie — lived a lie to his family,” District Attorney Ben Creekmore said. “He lied to Jay Lee to coax him over there, promising to do something with him.”

Herrington’s attorney, Kevin Horan, has said prosecutors cannot prove Lee is dead without having a body. He told jurors Wednesday that text messages showed Herrington did not lure Lee to his apartment.

“He’s the one that’s being dominant anchoring this particular conversation,” Horan said of Lee.

Lee, 20, has not contacted friends or family, and his financial transactions and once-prolific social media posts have stopped since the day he disappeared, investigators testified.

Police arrested Herrington two weeks after Lee went missing. Authorities interviewed Herington twice that day, and he gave conflicting information about the hours before Lee vanished, Oxford Police Chief Jeff McCutchen testified Tuesday.

Before officers interviewed Herrington, they had already obtained explicit messages exchanged between social media accounts belonging to Herrington and Lee during the final hours Lee was known to be alive, McCutchen said.

Google records obtained through a warrant showed that Herrington searched “how long does it take to strangle someone” at 5:56 a.m., University Police Department Sgt. Benjamin Douglas testified last week.

The final text message from Lee’s phone was sent to a social media account belonging to Herrington at 6:03 a.m. from a spot near Herrington’s apartment, McCutchen said Tuesday. A cellphone tower in another part of Oxford last located any signal from Lee’s phone shortly before 7:30 a.m., the police chief said. A security camera showed Herrington moments later jogging out of a parking lot where Lee’s car was abandoned, investigators testified earlier.

On the day Lee vanished, Herrington was also seen on security cameras buying duct tape in Oxford and driving to his own hometown of Grenada about an hour south of Oxford, police have testified.

Jurors were chosen from another county about 250 miles (402 kilometers) to the south. They heard eight days of arguments and testimony.

Judge Kelly Luther presides over the case of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Bruce Newman/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., center, who is on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, talks with his attorneys as the jury deliberates on the case, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Bruce Newman/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, sits at the defense table as the jury decides the case, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss., Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Bruce Newman/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal via AP, Pool)

Sheldon "Timothy" Herrington Jr., who is on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, leaves the courtroom as the jury is sent back for further deliberations, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss. on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Bruce Newman/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, via AP, Pool)

Sheldon "Timothy" Herrington Jr., who is on trial for the murder of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, gets up from the defense table as the jury is sent back for further deliberations, at the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss., on Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2024. (Bruce Newman/The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, via AP, Pool)

Stephanie Lee talks with family during the capital murder trial of Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is charged in the 2022 death of her son, Jimmie "Jay" Lee, in Oxford, Miss., on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian via AP, Pool)

Sheldon Timothy Herrington Jr., who is on trial in the 2022 death of University of Mississippi student Jimmie "Jay" Lee, enters the Lafayette County Courthouse in Oxford, Miss., Friday, Dec. 6, 2024. (Antonella Rescigno/The Daily Mississippian via AP, Pool)