Jalen Brunson had a superb season, from the start until the bitter end, but the Knicks’ other top players couldn’t do nearly enough to help him keep that season alive.
Brunson followed up his 48-minute masterpiece from two nights earlier with 41 points in 45 minutes, but the Knicks received little production from Julius Randle and RJ Barrett in a crushing, season-ending 96-92 loss to the Heat in Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series at Kaseya Center.
“You’ve got to give the Heat a lot of credit. They didn’t play like an eight seed, at all,” Brunson said. “For me, we did a lot of great things this season. We obviously want the team to keep playing, to have the opportunity.
“It stings a little bit, definitely a learning experience. But if you don’t win, you lose.”
Aside from Brunson, who finished 14-for-22 from the field, the other four Knicks starters shot a combined 15.6 percent (5-for-32).
That shoddy statistic included 20 of 24 misses by Randle (15 points) and Barrett (11) as the Knicks fell to 0-15 in their history when trailing 3-1 in a best-of-seven playoff series.
Game Break 