Heat advance to Eastern Conference finals with Game 6 win over Knicks: How Miami got it done

The Miami Heat advanced to the Eastern Conference finals, defeating the New York Knicks 96-92 in Game 6 of their semifinal series on Friday. Here’s what you need to know:

Jimmy Butler led Miami with 24 points on 7-of-22 shooting; he went 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. Bam Adebayo added 23 points, Max Strus had 14 and Kyle Lowry added 11 off the bench.

Jalen Brunson had another big game for New York, scoring 41 points on 14-of-22 shooting. The Knicks shot 38 percent from the field (10-of-35 from 3-point range).

The Heat were the eighth-best team in the East during the regular season and advanced to the first round of the playoffs after losing to the Hawks and beating the Bulls in the Play-In Tournament. Miami knocked off No. 1 seed Milwaukee in the first round.

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

How the Heat got it done

They couldn’t stop Brunson, again, but they bottled up every other Knick. They built a wall around the paint and goaded the Knicks to shoot 3s and it worked just fine.