Jalen Brunson never discussed the number of minutes he would play or the points he was required to score with his coach.
Given the circumstances that the Knicks found themselves in, there is no need for conversation.
Brunson stated that there was complete silence during the meeting. “In any way that it can be.”
You may have to put in the same effort in two nights.
Brunson contributed 38 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists in a season-extending performance for the New York Knicks on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Miami Heat. New York won 112-103 to prolong their season.
The Heat had their first opportunity to become just the second No. 8 seed to advance to the conference finals, but the Knicks could stop them and send the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Friday night.
RJ Barrett added 26 points, and Julius Randle had 24 for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who stayed alive in their dreams of reaching the conference finals for the first time since 2000. Julius Randle’s face was a little swollen after being hit by Bam Adebayo in the first quarter, leading to RJ Barrett scoring 26 points. They accomplished this by advancing through the Heat in the second round without losing more than seven games, which remains a possibility.
The Knicks extended their advantage to 19 points in the third quarter, but the Heat cut it to just two points with two and a half minutes left to play. The Knicks could hold on to their lead and win the game despite this.
According to Barrett, “You’ve got to scratch and claw and do whatever you can to win the game.”
The Heat’s Jimmy Butler finished with 19 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. This was the first time in this postseason that the Heat were limited to fewer than 25 points. Bam Adebayo contributed 18 points, and Duncan Robinson tallied 17.
Although he played the whole second half of Wednesday’s game, Butler only attempted 12 shots despite scoring 42 points in the previous day’s decisive victory against Milwaukee in the first round of the playoffs.
“It doesn’t matter if I score 40 or 50 or 19 or nine; we always have enough to win,” Butler said. “We always have enough.” “And even if I score 10 points in that game and we win, that wouldn’t be an issue, wouldn’t be a question, and I will continue to play the right way.”
Since the current playoff structure was not implemented until 1984, the 1999 Knicks are still the first No. 8 seed to advance to a conference final. After shocking the number one-seeded Heat in the first round, they were able to advance to the NBA Finals.
The Knicks were able to create a lead of 73-54 by the middle of the third quarter thanks to two huge runs to start the quarter: an 18-2 run to start the second quarter and a 23-7 run to start the third quarter. The Heat brought the score down to 103-101 when Isaiah Hartenstein smashed home a follow dunk to spark New York’s final kick. Hartenstein was in the game because the Heat was purposely fouling starting center Mitchell Robinson.
Brunson finally caught a break after the Knicks had successfully hung on for a while.
“You have to respect him as a competitor, and then you have to find a way to get the job done,” said Erik Spoelstra, the head coach for the Heat. “And he was able to finish the job, making those big and important plays,” the narrator said.
In addition, Quentin Grimes played the whole 48 minutes for the Knicks and finished with eight points. Head Coach Tom Thibodeau didn’t rule out the possibility of deploying his starting guards in the same fashion when they played in Miami.
He stated, “We’ll see what Game 6 brings,” and we agreed. “If it requires them to do that, then I have no problem doing it myself,” she said.
After taking control of Game 3 and outworking the Knicks in the last period of Game 4, the Heat is again in a position to win a series in five games for the second time this postseason. They started it off by winning against Milwaukee, which at the time had the best record in the league.
However, they could not make 21 of their first 25 3-point attempts, and they were still behind by 13 points with nine and a half minutes remaining. Then, Robinson and Kyle Lowry each scored two 3-point shots during a 12-3 run that brought the score down to 95-91 with more than half of the fourth quarter left to play.
To bring the score to 103-101, Butler had one of his regular periods in which he did everything from scoring a basket to blocking a shot to making free throws. However, the Heat could not return as they did in the decisive game against the Bucks when they were behind by 16 points.
They had a 24-14 lead after one quarter, but Butler started the second quarter on the bench, and the Knicks took advantage of the situation. They increased the tempo to obtain some rare easy shots, and Barrett made two 3-pointers during an 18-2 run that put them in the lead with a score of 32-26.
After Randle hit a 3-pointer, the score was tied at 47-all at the half. Kevin Love scored the first basket of the third quarter, but R. Barrett and D. Brunson countered with back-to-back 3-pointers to kickstart the Knicks’ subsequent run. Eight points separated Brunson and Randle’s back-to-back three-pointers that were part of an 11-0 run that increased the advantage to 73-54 about halfway through the third quarter.
Robinson made four of his eight attempts from the free-throw line and finished with eight points and eleven rebounds.
TIP-INS
Max Strus of the Heat had 14 points scored against them… On Wednesday, the voters chose Butler for the second team of the All-NBA. After previously being selected to the third team on four separate occasions, this was his best finish ever in his career.
Brunson and Grimes became the first Knicks teammates since Walt Frazier and Jerry Lucas in 1972 to play all 48 minutes of regulation time in a playoff game for the Knicks. The Knicks were missing guard Evan Fournier, who has not been a regular part of the rotation, and sixth-man Immanuel Quickley for a second consecutive game due to a sprained right ankle. In addition to being selected for the second team in 2021, Randle was voted to the All-NBA third team this year.
