CLEVELAND (AP) — Jalen Brunson scored 23 points, RJ Barrett added 21 and the New York Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 106-95 in Game 5 on Wednesday night to advance to the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs for the first time since 2013.
The Knicks easily controlled the series and the clincher even after Julius Randle aggravated his left ankle injury and missed the second half. The fifth-seeded Knicks will meet the Miami-Milwaukee winner next.
Brunson averaged 24 points in the series and led New York in scoring all four wins while outplaying Donovan Mitchell for the second straight postseason. Last year, Brunson was with Dallas when he got the best of Mitchell.
Mitchell scored 28 points and Darius Garland had 21 for the Cavs, who won 51 games during the regular season but whose inexperience showed throughout their first playoff series in five years.
The Cavs got pushed around and outrebounded in all four losses, including 48-30 in the clincher. New York center Mitchell Robinson finished with 18 rebounds — 11 offensive.
GRIZZLIES 116, LAKERS 99
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Desmond Bane had 33 points and 10 rebounds, Ja Morant added 31 points and 10 boards, and Memphis staved off elimination, forcing its first-round Western Conference series back to Los Angeles.
Jaren Jackson Jr., the NBA Defensive Player of the Year, had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the No. 2 seed Grizzlies, who cut the seventh-seeded Lakers’ series lead to 3-2. Game 6 is Friday night.
LeBron James started 1 of 7 from the field but finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds, a modest follow-up after the 38-year-old played 45 minutes in Monday night’s overtime win in Los Angeles and became the oldest player in NBA history to post at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game.
Anthony Davis led the Lakers with 31 points and 19 rebounds.
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