NEW YORK—Jalen Brunson never talked to his coach about how minutes he would play, or how many points he had to score.
In the situation the Knicks faced, there’s no need for talk.
“Nothing was said at all,” Brunson said. “Whatever it takes.”
It might take the same effort again in two nights.
Brunson had 38 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists while playing all 48 minutes in a season-extending performance, and New York beat the Miami Heat 112–103 on Wednesday night in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Knicks denied the Heat’s first attempt to become just the second No. 8 seed to reach the conference finals and sent the series back to Miami for Game 6 on Friday night….