The New York Knicks defeated the Miami Heat 112-103 on Wednesday night (10 May) in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference playoffs behind a season-extending performance from Jalen Brunson (38 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists in 48 minutes).
The Knicks forced Friday’s 5 May, Game 6 in Miami after preventing the Heat from becoming only the second No. 8 seed to advance to the conference finals.
The fifth-seeded Knicks, led by RJ Barrett’s 26 points and Julius Randle’s 24, remained in the hunt for a trip to the conference finals for the first time since 2000. They did this by eliminating the Heat from playoff contention in the second round in a manageable seven games.
The Knicks opened up a 19-point lead in the third quarter and despite the Heat cutting it to two with 2 1/2 minutes to play, they held on.
For the first time in these playoffs, the Heat were able to hold their star player, Jimmy Butler, to fewer than 25 points. Butler finished with 19 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds. Duncan Robinson scored 17 points, and Bam Adebayo scored 18.
As of this writing, the 1999 Knicks are the first No. 8 seed to advance to the conference finals under the current playoff format, which dates back to 1984. They shocked the Miami Heat, the series’ top seed and advanced all the way to the NBA Finals.
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Midway through the third quarter, the Heat led 73-54 thanks to an 18-2 run to start the second quarter and a 23-7 run to start the third quarter. Miami drew within 103-101, but New York’s last push was sparked by a follow dunk from Isaiah Hartenstein, who entered the game because the Heat were purposely fouling starter center, Mitchell Robinson.
For the Knicks, Quentin Grimes played all 48 minutes and scored eight points.
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