Knicks Denied by The 305; Season Ends in Miami Despite Brunson's 41
When it comes to the culprit behind killing off the New York Knicks' 2022-23 season, one can accurately declare that The Butler did it ... though he had some help along the way.
The Knicks' magic season came to an end on Friday night, as the Miami Heat clinched their third Eastern Conference Finals appearance in the past four seasons with a 96-92 victory in Game 6 to close out round two at Kaysera Center.
Going for naught on the New York side was a 41-point performance for Jalen Brunson, whose gutsy postseason effort and dominant first year on a $104 million contract ended in heartbreak: with a flagrant one foul called on Gabe Vincent for swiping Brunson in the face, New York had a chance to win, but Brunson's desperate to force the ball under the rim to Josh Hart was deflected and intercepted by Kyle Lowry, allowing Jimmy Butler to go to the line for the sealing free throws.
Despite this, Brunson nonetheless made blue-and-orange playoff history, becoming just the fourth New Yorker to score at least 30 points in three consecutive contests, joining Bernard King (twice), Carmelo Anthony, and Patrick Ewing.
Another strong closeout for Butler, who scored 15 of his 24 points in the second half, united with standout performances for starter Bam Adebayo (23 points, 9 rebounds) and reserve Lowry (11 points. 9 assists, 3 steals) to not only afford the Heat another trip to the final four but also a tie in the infamous postseason rivalry between Manhattan and South Beach.
Miami now awaits the winner of Sunday's seventh and final game between the Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers for a chance to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. To put more salt in the Knicks' wounds, the Heat are the first team in the eighth slot on the playoff bracket to reach the conference finals since New York's NBA Finals run in 1999 (which, ironically, began with a win over the top-seeded Heat).
The Knicks' final hours were primarily spent at the foul line: early drives got them to the foul line 11 times in the opening frame, RJ Barrett doing so eight times alone. With Brunson scoring early and often, handling most of the Knicks' work in the field to the tune of 15 points on 5-of-7 shoooting in the opening frame, New York jumped out to an early 14-point lead that seemingly put the series on the path to a seventh game.
But the Heat scored the final seven points of the period and cleaned up their act, denying a Knicks a return to the foul line for the next 15-plus minutes of game time. Following a timeout with 2:40 to go in the second quarter, the Heat outscored the Knicks 34-19 over the rest of the first half. Butler was held in relative check with nine points but Adebayo led the way by tallying 11 of his 17 points during that stretch. Brunson had 22 by the halftime horn, a career-best for a postseason's first half.
Somehow that stretch was enough to prevent the Knicks from never leading again. Even if they had a response for every Miami breakaway, they never inched ahead despite coooling the Heat to the tune of 34 percent from the field in the second half. The Knicks' offense, however, couldn't get out of its own way. They once again got to the foul line early and often (entering the bonus just four minutes in) but took nearly six full minutes to hit a shot from the field before Brunson hit a jumper the erased Miami's largest lead of nine.
Despite his late turnover that helped the Heat seal the deal, Brunson was as far from blame as humanly possible: beyond his 14-of-22 tally from the field, Knicks starters shot 5-of-32. Julius Randle alone was 3-of-14 (though he added 11 rebounds and was 8-of-9 from the charity stripe) while Barrett (1-of-10) never scored again after a busy opening dozen.
With the loss, the Knicks dropped all three road games in South Beach despite boasting one of the Association's better road records at 24-17 this season. Those losses conjured brutal memories of their last conference semifinal visit, which saw them lose all three in Indiana.
The Heat now get a chance to compete for their sixth NBA Finals appearance since 2006 by extending dubious streaks on the Knicks' historic ledgers: New York championship drought officially reached its fifth decade (one of five teams with such a streak) and it hasn't appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals since 2000 (the third-longest in the NBA behind Washington and Charlotte).
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
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