The New York Knicks lost Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals to the Miami Heat despite an amazing performance from Jalen Brunson.
The Knicks dropped Game 6, 96-92, to the Heat to end their season in an unfortunate manner.
New York’s supporting cast had plenty of options to make up for their lack of offense late after the Knicks got bailed out with Gabe Vincent’s flagrant foul on Jalen Brunson.
NY cut it down to a one-possession game and were able to get a stop on the defensive end. On the next possession, Brunson drove to the basket before being doubled. His attempt to pass the ball out to Josh Hart was stolen by Miami, essentially ending the game.
3 reasons the Knicks were eliminated by the Heat in Game 6
R.J. Barrett
R.J. Barrett had a really rough game for New York. He ended up going 10 percent from the field in a game where he couldn’t really do anything on the offensive end. He was able to drive and get to the basket to draw fouls but besides that, he couldn’t do much.
Combined from the floor, Barrett and Julius Randle went 4-of-24. It is very hard to win a game when two of your best players only make 16 percent of their shots together.
Julius Randle
Randle really struggled in this game. His very questionable postseason continued with 21 percent shooting from the field and only 15 points.
This is the second year that Randle has struggled in the playoffs and the questions about his postseason play are very fair to ask.
The Knicks offense outside of Jalen Brunson
For the entirety of this game, it seemed like the Knicks could not get any offense for any of their players not named Jalen Brunson. Brunson was the only player that showed up at all.
It’s very rough to say this but if New York made a couple more shots outside of Brunson, this series would be heading to Game 7. Instead, the Knicks are heading home after a very fruitful season that had a very bitter ending.
Yes, Brunson had a turnover after trying to get to Hart for the open three to take the lead very late. Still, Quinton Grimes airballing a wide open three in the final seconds basically summarized this game. The Knicks just couldn’t make slightly contested shots or even open shots.