A Night To Remember For Brunson
By Andrew Rosario
The New York Knicks knew what they had to do Wednesday when they hosted the Miami Heat in game 5 of the Eastern Conference semi-finals if they wanted to send the series back to Miami for game 6 Friday night. New York had to limit Miami’s offensive rebounds and get defensive stops when they needed them.
The Knicks were already without 6-man candidate of the year lmmanuel Quickley (sore ankle). It looked like it would get worse early for the Knicks after forward Julius Randle connected on a 3-pointer. Battling for a rebound on the Heat’s next possession, Randle gets tangled under the basket with Bam Adebayo and appears to wrench his right shoulder. A time was called and Randle returned.
It was not the way New York wanted to start the game as from the floor (30%) and 3-point line (22%) and trailed by 10 24-14 after the first quarter. Quentin Grimes led them with 5 points with Jalen Brunson 4 points and Randle 3 points. Matt Straus led Miami with 8 points connecting on 2-3 pointers. Jimmy Butler chipped in 6.
It was a wakeup call for the Orange and Blue as they came out outscored Miami 17-2 to take a 31-26 lead. By the end of the second quarter, they outscored the Heat 36-23. Randle buried a 3-pointer at the buzzer. The quarter belonged to Brunson. He scored 14 points, converting 5 o6 6 field goals. New York outrebounded Miami 25-21. Forward Obie Toppin was big on the boards with 5 rebounds. The defense kept Butler in check as he only scored 6 points all 6 from the free throw line. 24 minutes would determine if the Knicks season would end or will they be on a plane back to Miami for game.
New York picked up right where they left off starting the third quarter as they outscored Miami 17-4, taking a 67-54 lead with 7:36 remaining. Miami would not go away. Although the Knicks outscored the Heat 34-27, Miami ended the quarter on a 12-5 run cutting the lead to 10 at 84-74.
The Miami Heat scratched and clawed their way in the final quarter getting within 2-points (103-101) after a Butler bucket. Unfortunately, that would be the closest they would get as like the Knicks in the previous two games, Miami could not come up with the stops when needed. New York outscored the Heat 9-3 in the last 2:37 to come away with the 112-103 win forcing a game 6 Friday night.
Brunson had a Knicks playoff night to remember playing all 48 minutes finishing with 38 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists. Barrett ended his night with 26 points and Randle contributed 24. Although he only scored 8 points, Quentin Grimes played all 48 minutes hassling Butler all night who finished with only 19 points.
Head coach Tom Thibodeau had nothing but praise for Brunson. “What could you say about the guy,” he began. “Incredible all-around player. Great leader, great toughness. Mental toughness, physical toughness, ability to think on his feet, ability to lead. Ability to connect with people to bring the best out of people. That what makes him special.
Brunson talked about the slow start, “l don’t want to say we eased into the game, but things weren’t going our way. We were complaining as a team, and we decided we just gotta play through it.” As far playing the entire game, “just tried to do everything to win. We did that, and it’s on to game 6.”
The New York Knicks did not want their season to end in front of the home team fans. Brunson put them on his back and now it’s back to Miami where anything can happen. Let’s see if the win can carry over in what will be a very hostile environment.
