Knicks punch back, avoid elimination in Game 5 against Heat

It has become Jimmy Butler time in these NBA Playoffs. In the final minutes, he’s set his Miami Heat team up to close out wins in the postseason. 

With less than two minutes left and his team down six on Wednesday, Butler navigated inside the arc with a limping Quentin Grimes on him. 

Just when it looked like Grimes was injured, he delivered the play of the game — and perhaps the most improbable play of the NBA postseason — swiping the ball from the Heat’s superstar and forcing the turnover to send Madison Square Garden into a frenzy.

Regardless of what happens to the Knicks in the remainder of this series, Tom Thibodeau and his team showed Wednesday night just how far they’ve come, punching back from an early deficit and holding off the Heat 112-103 to avoid elimination and force a Game 6 in Miami. 

The way the night began, it was trending towards looking like a funeral would be held in New York, with the Knicks scoring just 14 points and trailing by 10 after one. 

But Jalen Brunson said it pregame: “You can’t shy away from the moment. You have to go out there and attack it.”

New York’s new star turned those words into reality, putting on a master class and charging the response with 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. When he stepped to the free-throw line at the end of the night, the chants of M-V-P rained down. 

Brunson was joined by his two comrades in the Knicks big 3, as RJ Barrett delivered 26 points and seven assists while Julius Randle posted 24 points, five rebounds and as many assists. 

On Wednesday, all of those 50-50 balls that Miami’s been earning in this series? New York finally got to them, with Randle coming up with the offensive rebound with 17 seconds left and the final bucket that served as the exclamation point on the night. 

After getting outrebounded in each of the first four games in the series, the Knicks took it to Miami on the glass with a 50-34 advantage. 

When the Heat tried to play the game of hacking Mitchell Robinson in the final minutes of the game, the Knicks big man went 4-for-6 from the line — not to mention his game-high 11 rebounds. 

Combining that level of desperation and physicality with Butler showing he’s human, shooting 5-for-12 on the night, and Miami starting 3-for-22 from downtown, it was hard to believe the Heat were in the game in the late goings. 

It’s hard to imagine the Heat having a shooting performance as poor as they just did on Wednesday, and bringing the series back to South Beach still provides a level of comfort. The other underlying issue for this series? Miami outscored New York in bench points Wednesday, 42-8, bringing the series advantage to 164-70.

But New York showed a killer instinct on Wednesday, and in a promising season for the organization, it’s fitting that this Knicks team didn’t surrender its season on their home floor.

John Fanta is a national college basketball broadcaster and writer for FOX Sports. He covers the sport in a variety of capacities, from calling games on FS1 to serving as lead host on the BIG EAST Digital Network to providing commentary on The Field of 68 Media Network. Follow him on Twitter @John_Fanta.