Heat 96, Knicks 92: Scenes from the end of the road

The 2022-23 exceeded most pre-season expectations and turned in the best campaign the MSG faithful have seen in a decade. But you know what they say about all good things coming to an end. The Knicks ran into a better team in the Miami Heat, even if the regular season didn’t bear that out. The Heat have a Hall of Fame-level coach, and were the deeper squad. Never was that more apparent than in Game 6, when Miami easily withstood a first-quarter charge and took control of the game.

Man, did things look up in that first quarter when the Knicks jumped out to a 31-17 lead. But the Heat didn’t even blink, erasing that deficit in only a few minutes. New York’s second unit, which was horrific throughout the series, collapsed utterly. The starters managed to keep the game close thanks to the heroics of Jalen Brunson, who led the charge with 41 points. The Knicks had a chance in the final minute thanks to a Heat flagrant foul, but a double-teamed Brunson turned the ball over, and that was all she wrote.

The non-Brunson starters were dreadful:

• Julius Randle: 3-14 shooting
• RJ Barrett: 1-10 shooting
• Quentin Grimes: 1-6 shooting

And so the season is over.

Miranda will have the recap later. I’m sorry, folks.