Brunson scores 38 points, Knicks beat Heat 112-103 in Game 5

NEW YORK (AP)— Jalen Brunson had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assistswhile playing all 48 minutes in a season-extending performance, andthe New York Knicks beat the Miami Heat 112-103 on Wednesday nightin Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Knicksdenied the Heat’s first attempt to become just the second No. 8seed to reach the conference finals and sent the series back toMiami for Game 6 on Friday night.

RJ Barrettadded 26 points and Julius Randle had 24 for the fifth-seededKnicks, who stayed alive in hopes of reaching the conference finalsfor the first time since 2000. They did that by getting by the Heatin seven games in the second round, a possibility that stillexists.

The Knicksbuilt a 19-point lead in the third quarter, then hung on when theHeat finally got their 3-pointers to start falling and cut it totwo with 2 1/2 minutes remaining.

Jimmy Butlerhad 19 points, nine assists and seven rebounds for the Heat,getting held below 25 points for the first time in this postseason.Bam Adebayo added 18 points and Duncan Robinson had 17.

The 1999Knicks, for now, remain the only No. 8 to get to a conferencefinals in the current playoff format that began in 1984. They gotall the way to the NBA Finals after upsetting the top-seeded Heatin the first round.

The Heat useda pair of huge quarter-opening runs — 18-2 to begin the second and23-7 in the third — to build a 73-54 lead midway through the thirdquarter. The Heat got it all the way down to 103-101 before IsaiahHartenstein — in the game because the Heat were intentionallyfouling starting center Mitchell Robinson — slammed home a followdunk to start New York’s finishing kick.

QuentinGrimes also went all 48 minutes for the Knicks, finishing witheight points.

The Heatdominated Game 3 and outworked the Knicks in the fourth quarter tohold on and take Game 4, positioning themselves to wrap up a seriesin five games for the second time in this postseason. They began itby knocking off Milwaukee, which had the best record in theleague.

But theymissed 21 of their first 25 3-pointers and were still down 13 with9 1/2 minutes before Robinson and Lowry each made a pair in a 12-3burst that trimmed it to 95-91 with more than half the final periodremaining.

Butler hadone of his typical do-everything stretches with a basket, a blockedshot and a free throw to cut it to 103-10, but the Heat couldn’tcome all the way back like they did in the deciding game againstthe Bucks, when they were down by 16 points.

They led24-14 after one, but Butler began the second quarter on the benchand the Knicks capitalized. They pushed the pace to get rare easyshots and Barrett made two 3-pointers in an 18-2 spurt that gavethem a 32-26 lead.

Randle’s3-pointer made it 50-47 at the half. Kevin Love got the firstbasket of the third, but Barrett and Brunson answered withconsecutive 3-pointers to ignite the Knicks’ next spurt. The leadwas eight before an 11-0 surge, featuring back-to-back 3-pointersby Brunson and Randle, pushed it to 73-54 midway through theperiod.

Robinsonfinished 4 of 8 at the line, ending with eight points and 11rebounds.

TIP-INS

Heat: MaxStrus scored 14 points. ... Butler was voted Wednesday to theAll-NBA second team. It was his highest career finish after beingvoted to the third team four times.

Knicks: TheKnicks were without sixth-man Immanuel Quickley for a secondstraight game because of a sprained right ankle and also withoutguard Evan Fournier, who has not been part of the rotation, becauseof illness. ... Randle was voted to the All-NBA third team, addingthat to his second-team selection in 2021.