Jalen Brunson, author of 30 points, allowed New York to beat Miami (111-105), without Jimmy Butler, to tie the series at 1-1 in the semifinals of the Eastern Conference, in the NBA playoffs.
In the West Conference the LA Lakers beat Golden State on the road (112-117) to go ahead 1-0.
Facing a Miami team without its leader, who hadn't recovered 48 hours after spraining his right ankle at the end of game #1, victory was imperative for New York, which otherwise would have presented itself in Florida for the two games later with low morale and too far behind to make up for it.
Mission accomplished then at Madison Square Garden, which however had to wait for the last three minutes to breathe a bit, when Brunson (10/19 shooting) finally brought the Knicks ahead of the score.
The leader, an excellent choice arrived from Dallas last summer, was then supported by Josh Hart, author of seven points in the last 98 seconds and close to the triple double (14 points, 11 rebounds, 9 assists).
The Lakers, led by a great Anthony Davis (30 points, 23 rebounds, 5 assists) and a fierce defense on Stephen Curry, snatched the first set of their conference semifinals from Golden State.
The comparison between the outgoing champion and that of 2020 kept its promises at the Chase Center.
With, at the end of the suspense, a somewhat more complete performance by LA The freshness was perhaps also on his side, being able to benefit from two more rest days than the Warriors, who qualified for the 7th game.
Golden State almost pulled off a sensational comeback in the last five minutes, tying even after being at -14, the biggest lead of the Lakers.
But in the end she collapsed in shooting percentages, wasting the opportunity.