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With their backs up against the wall and on the brink of elimination, the New York Knicks took care of business on their home floor Wednesday night and kept their season alive with a triumphant 112-103 win over the Miami Heat.
Game 5’s victory may have provided the Knickerbockers with at least one more game to play in the 2023 postseason, but RJ Barrett is already looking at the bigger picture in this series as he believes this team realistically can rattle off two straight wins and, in turn, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
“We’re fighting for our lives right now. This is something that can be done, its been done before 13 times so we just wanted to focus and try and go get this win tonight. We were able to do that and now we got to go get one in Miami,” RJ Barrett said during a post-game interview.
The “13 times” RJ Barrett is referring to is in regard to teams throughout history who have managed to come back and win a playoff series after finding themselves down 3-1. The last team to do so was the Denver Nuggets back in 2020, where they did so in two consecutive series.
The fourth-year wing once again proved to be an integral part of the Knicks’ success in Game 5, as he finished the night off with an impressive stat line of 26 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block while shooting 47.1% from the field and 37.5% from deep.
Jalen Brunson Addresses His Play for Knicks in Game 5
Leading the charge for the Knicks from start to finish was Jalen Brunson, as he was the club’s spark plug yet again while registering a whopping 48 minutes of action.
Following the contest, reporters asked the 26-year-old to “put into perspective” his performance on the night where, in response, he provided classic Brunson-esque comments.
“[I] just tried to do everything I could to win. We did that and now it’s on the Game 6,” Jalen Brunson bluntly retorted.
Brunson found himself falling just short of a triple-double on the night, as he finished with a stellar logline of 38 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists while shooting 54.5% from the field and 40.0% from deep.
Tom Thibodeau Heaps Praise Upon Jalen Brunson
Jalen Brunson’s performance was one to relish, and head coach Tom Thibodeau certainly made note of that during his post-game press conference.
When asked to share his thoughts on his point guard’s play, the Knicks headman went as far as to refer to him as an “incredible all-around player.”
“[He’s a] great leader, great toughness: mental toughness, physical toughness. [He has] the ability to think on his feet. The ability to lead. The ability to connect with people to bring the best out of people. That’s what makes him special and it’s play after play,” Tom Thibodeau said after the Knicks win in Game 5.
Jalen Brunson has been an absolute gem of a contributor for the Knicks all throughout his first season with the club and has managed to turn things up a notch under the bright lights of the playoffs.
Leading into Wednesday night’s bout, the point guard found himself posting averages of 25.2 points, 5.8 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game.
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