Jimmy Butler scored 24 points, Bam Adebayo added 23 and the Miami Heat are headed back to the Eastern Conference finals after topping the New York Knicks 96-92 on Friday night.
Max Strus scored 14 points and Kyle Lowry had 11 points and nine assists for the eighth-seeded Heat, who won the semifinal series 4-2 to go to the conference finals for the 10th time overall and the third time in the last four years.
It was dicey at the end, but Miami survived. Gabe Vincent was called for a flagrant-1 against Brunson with just under a minute left, starting a run where the Knicks scored four points in 4.6 seconds.The Knicks got a stop at the other end, but never got a shot off on the next possession. Lowry knocked the ball away for a steal, Butler made two free throws with 14.4 seconds left and the countdown back to the NBA’s final four was on.
Miami bent - but never broke. Vincent set up Adebayo for a dunk with 1:05 left that put Miami up 92-86, and at that point it became a matter of getting stops.
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