Jalen Brunson never discussed his minutes or points with his coach.
Talking wouldn’t help the Knicks.
Brunson said nothing was spoken. Whatever it takes.
Two nights may require the same effort.
New York won Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals 112-103 on Wednesday night behind Brunson’s 38 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
The Knicks prevented the Heat from becoming the second No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals and pushed the series to Miami for Game 6 on Friday night.
The fifth-seeded Knicks, who are trying to reach the conference finals for the first time since 2000, were led by RJ Barrett’s 26 points and Julius Randle’s 24. They defeated the Heat in seven games in the second round, a potential that remains.
The Knicks established a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then held on when the Heat started making 3-pointers and trimmed it to two with 2 1/2 minutes left.
Barrett added, “You’ve got to kind of scratch and claw and do whatever you can to win the game.
For the first game this postseason, Jimmy Butler scored 19 points, nine assists, and seven rebounds for the Heat. Duncan Robinson scored 17, Bam Adebayo 18.
Butler scored 42 points in Game 5 against Milwaukee but only took 12 shots Wednesday, despite playing the whole second half.
“We always have enough to win,” Butler added. “And if I score 10 points in that game and we win, that wouldn’t be a question and I will continue to play the right way.”
The 1999 Knicks are the only No. 8 team to reach a conference final since the 1984 playoff format began. They reached the NBA Finals after defeating the top-seeded Heat in the first round.
The Knicks had a 73-54 lead midway through the third quarter after opening the second and third quarters with 18-2 and 23-7 runs. The Heat got it down to 103-101 before Isaiah Hartenstein hammered home a follow dunk to spark New York’s final kick.
Brunson could rest after the Knicks held on.
“You have to respect him as a competitor and then find a way to get the job done,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He made those big, important plays.”
Knicks guard Quentin Grimes scored eight points in 48 minutes. In Miami, Tom Thibodeau didn’t rule out using both starting guards the same manner.
“Game 6 will tell,” he remarked. “I’ll do it if they need me to.”
The Heat dominated Game 3 and outworked the Knicks in the fourth quarter to win Game 4, setting up a second five-game series in this postseason. They started by defeating league-leading Milwaukee.
They missed 21 of their first 25 3-pointers and were down 13 with 9 1/2 minutes until Robinson and Kyle Lowry each made two in a 12-3 run that cut it to 95-91 with more than half the fourth quarter left.
Butler had one of his signature do-everything stretches with a basket, a blocked shot, and a free throw to trim it to 103-101, but the Heat couldn’t come back like they did in the last game against the Bucks, when they were down by 16 points.
After one, they led 24-14, but Butler sat in the second quarter and the Knicks capitalized. Barrett scored two 3-pointers in an 18-2 run that gave them a 32-26 advantage.
Randle’s 3-pointer made it 50-47 at halftime. Barrett and Brunson’s 3-pointers started the Knicks’ third-quarter rally after Kevin Love’s basket. Before Brunson and Randle’s back-to-back 3-pointers, the lead was eight.
Robinson had four free throws and eight points and 11 rebounds.
TIP-INS
Heat: 14-pointer Max Strus. … Butler made the All-NBA second team Wednesday. After four third-team selections, it was his best finish.
Knicks: Brunson and Grimes played all 48 minutes in a playoff game for the first time since Walt Frazier and Jerry Lucas in 1972. … The Knicks were missing sixth-man Immanuel Quickley for a second straight game due to a sprained right ankle and guard Evan Fournier, who has not played, due to sickness. … Randle added the All-NBA third team to his 2021 second-team selection.
