When it mattered most, Jalen Brunson strapped on his cape and exacted revenge on the Miami Heat.
Trailing by nine with under four minutes left — and by as many as 21 in the second half — the Knicks point guard, nursing a shoulder injury, led a Black Friday comeback for a 100-98 victory at MSG, keeping the Knicks alive in the In-Season Tournament.
Brunson hit two clutch buckets in the final three minutes, including an and-1 conversion after getting whacked on the shoulder by Bam Adebayo.
He finished with 24 points, shooting 10-for-16 despite facing a swarm of Heat defenders all evening.
“He’s a competitor,” Heat coach Eric Spoelstra said of Brunson before the game. “He’s going to try to impose his will on the game and that’s what he was able to do in that series. He was a handful. Even as prepared, it’s tough, our guys have been schooled on a lot of different pick and roll plays. He can kind of manipulate the floor in a different way. You have to respect that.”
With the impressive win, the Knicks (9-6 in the regular season) are 2-1 in the group play of the In-Season Tournament and could advance to the quarterfinals depending on the results of the last games.
The Heat (10-6) took control with a 19-0 run to start the second half, but scored only 11 points on the fourth quarter.
Much of the game followed a familiar script from the playoffs.
Jimmy Butler was feasting with methodical play, finishing with 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting.
Adebayo neutralized Mitchell Robinson’s rebounding, dominating the Knicks center while grabbing 11 boards.
Julius Randle struggled with six turnovers and just 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
But everything changed in the fourth quarter.
Brunson, the crafty guard, picked apart Miami’s defense and RJ Barrett served as a strong wingman while finishing with 18 points in 34 minutes.
Source
