Jalen Brunson leads way in Game 5 as Knicks hold off Heat, forcing Game 6
The Knicks had dug themselves a hole, facing elimination Wednesday night, and when the game began they made the task even more difficult, falling behind by double-digits in the first quarter.
So the choice was simple for them: play or go home.
And the sold-out Madison Square Garden crowd seemed ready to give up on the team and it was hard to blame them. But the Knicks lifted themselves off the mat and while there is no certainty that it will get them anything beyond another 48 hours of a season, 48 more minutes Friday, the Knicks fought back, taking a 112-103 decision from the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
“Nothing really to celebrate,” Jalen Brunson said. “We won, get to see another day. This is great but we’ve got to go get one down there.”
The series returns to Miami for Game 6 Friday night with Miami leading the best-of-seven series, three games to two.
The Knicks saved nothing for anything beyond this game. Brunson and Quentin Grimes never sat for a second, playing all 48 minutes as the Knicks backed up their vow to take it one game at a time. Worry about rest on Thursday or on the plane — get the job done on this night.
Brunson laughed when asked if he was OK with playing 48 minutes.
“If we win,” he said. “I’m OK with it.”
According to the Knicks, Brunson and Grimes were their first duo to play all 48 minutes in regulation in a playoff game since Walt Frazier and Jerry Lucas in 1972.
Brunson led the Knicks with a heroic 38-point effort. RJ Barrett had another solid 26-point effort while Julius Randle answered his own question from two days earlier about maybe the Heat wanting it more — by shrugging off an elbow to the right eye that had him looking like a losing boxer after the game to finish with 24 points. And Grimes, while the numbers may not be glaring — chased Jimmy Butler all over the floor for the entire night, picking up two steals, two blocks and a much-needed hint that Butler would not control the entire series.
But it was Brunson who came up with every player — in every minute, every second.
“What can you say about the guy,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He’s just 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, bring the best out of people. That’s what makes him special. It’s play after play.”
Brunson put the Knicks up 92-79 with 9:36 left but sloppy play on two straight possessions and a Kyle Lowry three cut the Knicks lead to seven. Out of a timeout, this time Grimes turned it over and Lowry drained another three and the deficit was down to four.
Brunson delivered again, draining a three over Jimmy Butler with 7:31 to play and hold off the Heat rally momentarily. But Duncan Robinson buried a three and the Knicks lead was 95-91. After Robinson misfired on an open three, Barrett drove into the lane and fed Robinson for a dunk and the lead was six with 5:54 remaining.
The Heat went to a strategy of fouling Robinson at that point — but he hit four-of-six down the stretch, foiling the plans of Heat coach Erik Spoelstra. He not only helped hold the lead but had the Garden crowd screaming — chanting his name as the game ended.
“It felt great in that moment for them to believe in me,” Robinson said. “Knocking them down for the team and stuff like that, it’s amazing.”
But Butler, who had been held in check most of the night, connected on a jumper from the wing and the Knicks lead was down to one possession. Barrett missed a three and after an offensive rebound gave him another chance, he launched a three, but it barely got out of his hands when Butler blocked it. A Butler free throw cut the Knicks lead to 103-101 — as close as the Heat had gotten in the second half.
It was a scramble to the finish but when Robinson drained one free throw with 21.3 seconds left and missed the second, but Randle picked up the loose ball and laid it in and the Knicks could finally exhale. It was a far cry from the slow start for Randle when the eye injury had threatened to shut him down.
“Yeah, it’s the price of war I guess,” he said. “First quarter, after that [hit] I couldn’t really see anything. But seeing the guys go out and compete the way they did energized me, started to feel a little bit better after that. Just happy we can get a win.”
If the crowd was tentative at the start it still seemed more into the game than the Knicks in the first quarter. After repeatedly talking about the need to start quickly, they found themselves chasing again as Randle was 1-for-7 with two turnovers, Barrett was 0-for-3 before heading to the bench with two fouls and Josh Hart had three fouls in less than six minutes — including a flagrant for being in Butler’s landing space on a three-point attempt. The Knicks trailed 24-14 at the end the first quarter and fans were booing — perhaps both the home team and the officials — as it ended.
“I don’t want to say ease into the game,” Brunson said. “Things weren’t going our way. We were complaining as a team. Decided to play through it, not worry about all that stuff, find a way to stick together, get a win.”
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
