Knicks advance to second round, down Cavs 106-95 in Game 5
CLEVELAND — Once he and his teammates were done finishing off the Cavs, Jalen Brunson slipped on a T-shirt with a photo of former Knicks All-Star John Starks on the front screaming while hanging from the rim.
Before looking ahead, New York remembered its past — the good and the bad.
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For only second time in 23 years, the Knicks are moving on in the NBA playoffs.
Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and New York showed its toughness and depth while downing the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round for the first time since 2013.
The Knicks easily controlled a series that was more one-sided than expected, even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half.
The series victory had extra meaning for Brunson, whose father, Rick, played point guard for the Knicks from 1999-2001.
“I thought about that today. It’s a really cool experience, knowing that my Dad played here,” Brunson said. “He didn’t lead that team, but he was on that team that got to the Finals. It’s special and the connection with my Dad and everything, it’s all full circle. It’s really special.”
New York won the opener at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, overpowered the Cavs twice at noisy Madison Square Garden and then returned to Cleveland to finish the job. The fifth-seeded Knicks will meet the Miami-Milwaukee winner next.
Brunson was the consistent ingredient throughout the series for the Knicks, who signed the stocky guard as a free agent last summer before their attempt to acquire Donovan Mitchell in a trade from Utah fell apart and he landed in Cleveland.
Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York in scoring all four wins while outplaying Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.
Only a month ago, it appeared the Knicks’ season was in serious trouble. Brunson missed 10 games down the stretch with hand and foot injuries and Randle sat out with a sprained ankle.
But New York got healthy and is suddenly a major threat in the wide-open East. Depending on the outcome of the Heat-Bucks series, the Knicks could host Game 1 as early as Sunday.
The Garden will rock deeper into the spring, and that’s all coach Tom Thibodeau and his gritty team could ask for.
“The tradition of the Knicks, not only what it means to the city and the league,” he said. “We have the best fans, best city, best arena. They respond to the way this team plays. It plays hard. It plays smart and it plays together.”
Mitchell scored 28 and Darius Garland 21 for the Cavs, who won 51 games during the regular season but whose inexperience showed throughout their first playoff series in five years. The Cavs weren’t ready.
A bigger issue, though, seemed to be Cleveland’s toughness. The Cavs got pushed around and outrebounded in all four losses, including 48-30 in the clincher.
“For it to end this way, it doesn’t feel right,” Mitchell said. “They outplayed us. It’s as simple as that. They did their job and we didn’t. For me, personally, I don’t feel like I was the player I needed to be for this group. I just didn’t deliver.”
New York center Mitchell Robinson finished with`18 rebounds — 11 offensive — in Game 5 and the 7-footer didn’t shy away from calling out the Cavs for being soft after Game 3, saying they appeared to be shaken.
“We weren’t physical enough,” Garland said. “We didn’t punch first. We were always getting punched.”
Morant, Grizzlies stave off elimination, beat Lakers 116-99
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The Grizzlies’ stars finally played well together in the same game, and Desmond Bane already is planning to be back for another tipoff Sunday in Memphis.
Even with Game 6 looming Friday night in Los Angeles, where the Grizzlies have yet to win this season or in this series.
Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, two-time All-Star Ja Morant added 31 points and 10 boards, and the Grizzlies staved off elimination Wednesday night, beating the Lakers 116-99 to force their first-round Western Conference series back to Los Angeles.
“I said it out there, and I’ll say it again,” Bane said. “We are going to be back for a Game 7 in front of the best fans in the NBA.”
Morant missed Memphis’ last Game 6 a year ago in the Western semifinals, a series-ending loss in Golden State. Asked what it will take for the Grizzlies to return for another game, Morant had a short answer.
“Me being a leader and, you know, being ready for this pedestal everybody got me on,” said Morant, who signed a five-year, supermax contract last summer.
Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Grizzlies, who improved to 5-0 in Game 5s played in Memphis and cut the seventh-seeded Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Memphis earned a second straight No. 2 seed by posting the NBA’s best home record at 35-
“Obviously it was a win or go home situation,” Memphis coach Taylor Jenkins said.
LeBron James started 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds. It was a modest follow-up after the 38-year-old played 45 minutes in Monday night’s overtime win in Los Angeles and became the oldest player in NBA history to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in his 270th playoff game.
This time, James played 37 minutes and was the first starter coach Darvin Ham pulled with the Grizzlies in control.
“He and I made eye contact,” Ham said. “We had a nonverbal discussion. It was time. We’re going to need him big on Friday.”
James said he doesn’t know how he’ll feel Friday night now that this series has a game every other night with travel on the off day.
“I’ll take care of the body,” James said. “Try to get as much sleep as I can. Seeing how fast the body can recover and get ready for Friday.”