When it mattered most, Jalen Brunson strapped on his cape and exacted revenge on the Miami Heat.
Trailing by nine with under four minutes left — and by as many as 21 in the second half — the Knicks point guard, nursing a shoulder injury, led a Black Friday comeback for a 100-98 victory at MSG, keeping the Knicks alive in the In-Season Tournament.
Brunson hit two clutch buckets in the final three minutes, including an and-1 conversion after getting whacked on the shoulder by Bam Adebayo.
He finished with 24 points, shooting 10-for-16 despite facing a swarm of Heat defenders all evening.
“He’s a competitor,” Spoelstra said of Brunson. “He’s going to try to impose his will on the game and that’s what he was able to do in that series [last postseason]. He was a handful. Even as prepared, it’s tough, our guys have been schooled on a lot of different pick and roll plays. He can kind of manipulate the floor in a different way. You have to respect that.”
With the impressive win, the Knicks (9-6 in the regular season) are 2-1 in the group play of the In-Season Tournament and could advance to the quarterfinals depending on other results.
The Heat (10-6) took control with a 19-0 run to start the second half, but scored only 11 points in the fourth quarter.
Much of the game followed a familiar script from the playoffs.
Jimmy Butler was feasting with methodical play, finishing with 23 points on 7 of 14 shooting.
Adebayo neutralized Mitchell Robinson’s rebounding, dominating the Knicks center while grabbing 11 boards.
Julius Randle struggled with six turnovers and just 13 points on 5 of 12 shooting.
But everything changed in the fourth quarter.
Brunson, the crafty guard, picked apart Miami’s defense and RJ Barrett served as a strong wingman while finishing with 18 points in 34 minutes.