Jalen Brunson had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists while playing all 48 minutes in a season-extending performance, and the New York Knicks beat the visiting Miami Heat 112-103 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Canada’s RJ Barrett added 26 points and Julius Randle had 24 for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who stayed alive in hopes of reaching the conference finals for the first time since 2000. They did that by getting by the Heat in seven games in the second round, a possibility that still exists.
RJ and Julius got it done in the Knicks Game 5 win ????<br><br>Barrett: 26 PTS, 7 REB <br>Randle: 24 PTS, 5 REB, 5 AST, 4 3PM<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by <a href=”https://twitter.com/GooglePixel_US?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@GooglePixel_US</a> <a href=”https://t.co/OBQPBVeLiS”>pic.twitter.com/OBQPBVeLiS</a>
—@NBA
The Knicks built a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then hung on when the Heat finally got their three-pointers to start falling and cut it to two with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.
Jimmy Butler had 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Heat, getting held below 25 points for the first time in this post-season. Bam Adebayo added 18 points and Duncan Robinson had 17.
The 1999 Knicks, for now, remain the only No. 8 to get to a conference finals in the current playoff format that began in 1984. They got all the way to the NBA Finals after upsetting the top-seeded Heat in the first round.
Jalen Brunson came up BIG in the must-win Game 5.<br><br>38 PTS<br>9 REB<br>7 AST<br><br>Knicks force a Game 6 ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPlayoffs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#NBAPlayoffs</a> presented by <a href=”https://twitter.com/GooglePixel_US?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@GooglePixel_US</a> <a href=”https://t.co/rgeRNtixbE”>pic.twitter.com/rgeRNtixbE</a>
—@NBA
The Heat used a pair of huge quarter-opening runs — 18-2 to begin the second and 23-7 in the third — to build a 73-54 lead midway through the third quarter. The Heat got it all the way down to 103-101 before Isaiah Hartenstein — in the game because the Heat were intentionally fouling starting centre Mitchell Robinson — slammed home a follow dunk to start New York’s finishing kick.
Quentin Grimes also went all 48 minutes for the Knicks, finishing with eight points.
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