Jalen Brunson scored 26 of his 31 points after halftime as the New York Knicks rallied to defeat the host Miami Heat 116-112 in overtime on Sunday night.
OG Anunoby added 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists, and Karl-Anthony Towns added 19 points and 16 rebounds as New York recovered after falling behind by 19 points in the third quarter.
Bam Adebayo scored 30 points, and Tyler Herro added 22 points and seven assists for the Heat.
Rookie 7-footer Kel’el Ware gave Miami 12 points, eight rebounds and six blocks.
The Heat played without three injured rotation players — Nikola Jovic (hand); Jaime Jaquez Jr. (ankle); and Andrew Wiggins (ankle).
Historically, the Knicks and Heat have been bitter rivals. New York leads this all-time series 89-85. The Knicks and Heat have met six times in the playoffs, and each team has won three.
On Sunday, Miami led by 10 points early but settled for a 27-22 cushion by the end of the first quarter.
Ware had four dunks and three blocks in the quarter as Miami built a 24-8 edge on points in the paint. Because the Heat attacked the rim, they shot 59.1 percent from the floor while the Knicks made 39.1 percent.
In the second quarter, Miami used a 17-2 run to go into halftime with a 62-45 lead. Miami shot 72.2 percent in that quarter, while New York shot 34.8 percent, including 2-for-12 on 3-pointers.
Brunson was held scoreless in the second quarter, missing all three of his shots.
New York closed its deficit to 87-81 with a strong third quarter. Anunoby had 13 points on 5-for-5 shooting in the quarter, including 3-for-3 from deep, and the Knicks shot 62.5 percent and reversed the paint points dominance 20-8.
With an 11-0 run, took its first lead of the game at 101-100 on a jumper by Miles McBride with 2:58 left in the game.
The game went into overtime as both teams missed shots on their final possession in regulation — Herro for Miami and Mikal Bridges for New York.
But Brunson scored six points in overtime, and Anunoby clinched the game on a dunk with 17.3 seconds left.
–Field Level Media
