The New York Knicks found themselves in a tough spot on Tuesday night in their latest NBA playoff game. Not only were they down in their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Miami Heat 1-0 after losing Sunday afternoon, they are up against it when it comes to injuries.
All-Star Julius Randle missed Game 1 after re-injuring his ankle in Game 5 of their first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Jalen Brunson also landed in the injury report ahead of Game 2 against the Heat with an ankle injury.
Both players were able to suit up for Game 2, but things didn’t look great once again in the early going. For a second straight game, the Heat were daring the Knicks to take jumpers and they were not hitting. To make matters worse, Miami was also playing without Jimmy Butler, who injured his ankle with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 1.
Leading the struggle bus was Brunson, who went 0-for-7 on 3-pointers in Game 1 and was 1-for-6 to start Game 2. But, something eventually clicked for him and he was able to get his game on track.
“Honest to God, I started not to feel sorry for myself,” Brunson said. “I said, ‘I’m out here and just let’s go hoop.’ That’s pretty much it.”
“Just kind of had to find a way to be mentally tough,” Brunson explained. “Go out there and do it.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks & Miami Heat Updates
Brunson eventually caught fire, which helped get the Knicks back on track. New York was able to even the series up at 1-1 behind a game-high 30 points from Brunson. After the brutal start, he finished the game on a 9-for-13 stretch, going 6-of-10 overall from 3-point range
“That’s who he is, great leader, great toughness,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “He never disappoints you. Sometimes we can fall short, but there’s no quit in him. Never quits on a play. So can’t say enough about that.”
Brunson was far from the other player that stepped up in Game 2. RJ Barrett had yet another strong game, carrying the load early on with Brunson and Randle struggling to get going. He finished the game with 24 points, three rebounds and two assists as the change to his shooting form during the Cavaliers series is paying dividends.
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks & Miami Heat Updates
Randle also deserves credit for how well he played. He is clearly not 100 percent, lacking his normal explosiveness and burst when driving to the basket. Both players received praise from Thibodeau as well.
“I thought Julius gutted it out, played tough. I thought Jalen was fantastic,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “RJ big, big start to the game for us, so we had a number of guys step up to get it done.”
Gutting it out is right. Randle ended up playing 38 minutes in the game, his first appearance since Game 5 on April 26th. He scored 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds and eight assists, putting forth a performance that has become commonplace this past season.
“It doesn’t even really matter, to be honest,” Randle said. “I do whatever I got to do to make myself available to play. And just take it a day at a time.”
NBA NEWS & PLAYOFFS: Jalen Brunson, New York Knicks & Miami Heat Updates
Everyone will now get a few days of rest and both teams need it. A scheduling quirk has four days between games as Game 3 isn’t until Saturday afternoon in Miami. The extra days off will certainly help as we could see Butler return to the court with Randle and Brunson also being healed from their ailments.
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