The Knicks 2022-23 season came to an end on Friday night in Miami, as the Heat found a way to edge out their rivals 96-92 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference SemiFinals. The Heat win the series 4-2, and await the winner of the Boston-Philadelphia series for a date in the Conference Finals.
While the Knicks lost by only four points, they struggled to knock down the critical shot, and turnovers really hurt the Knicks in the second half. Not to mention Miami was solid on the boards with 33 defensive rebounds (40 overall), and was prickly in the turnover department forcing eight steals of the Knicks.
Jalen Brunson who poured his heart out on the court in Game 6, and in this series, just couldn’t come up with enough plays to make up the difference.
Even when he Gabe Vincent got a Flagrant 1 for accidentally hitting Brunson in the face, and the Knicks converted it into four points to get to within two-points of the a tie, it wasn’t enough. With the Knicks down 92-90 Brunson tried to work his way in the paint, and dished it off towards Julius Randle, but the pass was bad. Miami got the ball back and later scored on free throws.
The Knicks just couldn’t hit the big shot. They finished 38 precent from the field, and 28 percent from down town.
Brunson finished with a game high 41 points, but was 5-of-10 from beyond the arch. Julius Randle struggled again, scoring only 15 points of 3-of-14 shooting.
R.J. Barrett was even worse, hitting only one of 10 shots from the floor.
Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo did their thing, combining for 47 points in the Heat’s victory.
