The Recent York Knicks made the Madison Square Garden respected and beat the Atlanta Hawks 126-97to take a 3-2 lead in the series thanks to another superb performance by Jalen Brunson, who led the New York team with 39 points.
Brunson led New York with 39 points, 8 assists and 3 rebounds (15 of 23 in field goals, of which 3 of 5 in triples) so that the Knicks confirmed the court component and can go to the sixth game in Atlanta with a reserve bullet.
Since joining the Knicks in the 2022-23 season, Brunson leads the table of players with 40 or more points in the NBA playoffs, with a total of eight games. This time he stayed at the doors.
Dominican Karl-Anthony Cities, born in New Jersey, contributed 16 points and 14 rebounds (double-double), in addition to 6 assists, 2 steals and another 2 blocks. “KAT” had just achieved his first triple-double (20-10-10) in the postseason, becoming the fourth to achieve it in the entire history of the franchise.
Complete dominance by the Knicks
The Knicks took Game 5 of the series very seriously. From the first quarter, Brunson led the New York team, which only in the first moments allowed Atlanta to be ahead on the scoreboard.
The Knicks closed the first twelve minutes with an 11-2 run and a 13-point lead, in part thanks not only to their shooting accuracy but also to the Hawks’ 1 of 6 three-point shooting, who took a while to sharpen their aim from the perimeter.
The 64-48 that both teams went to at halftime left little room for a comeback for the Hawks, who also had much more mixed feelings regarding the second game of the series in Madison, which they did manage to come back after picking up 14 points.
Although the Hawks improved their three-point percentage and did not throw in the towel at any point, the Knicks managed to activate unusual bench players like Jordan Clarkson (9 points) and did not lose a double-digit lead, but rather extended it to 32 points.
OG Anunoby also shined, contributing another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremy Sochan added 10 points in the final minutes of the game.
For the Hawks, Dyson Daniels scored 17 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker another 16, Onyeka Okongwu had 16 and Jonathan Kuminga 13. Jalen Johnson was Atlanta’s top scorer with a double-double (18 points and 10 rebounds).
Sixers also beat Celtics
Joel Embiid scored 33 points, Tyrese Maxey added 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Philadelphia 76ers avoided elimination by beating the Boston Celtics 113-97 on Tuesday night in Game 5 of their first-round playoff series.
Paul George had 16 points and nine rebounds for the seventh-seeded Sixers, who lost Games 3 and 4 at home to trail 3-1 in the series before returning to Boston to keep their season alive.
For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum recorded 24 points and 16 rebounds for Boston, and Jaylen Brown scored 22.
In his second game since returning from an emergency appendectomy, Embiid helped Philadelphia rally after trailing by 13 points in the third quarter. After scoring 13 points in the second quarter, he added 10 in the third as the Sixers went on a 12-0 run to turn a three-point lead into a 15-point run.
Game 6 returns to Philadelphia on Thursday night, when the Sixers will try to force the series into a decisive Game 7 in Boston on Saturday.
Continue reading:
NBA: Cooper Flagg wins rookie of the year after historic season at just 19 years old
Knicks tied the series against Hawks thanks to Karl-Anthony Cities’ triple-double
Knicks fall behind in series against Hawks after losing in Atlanta