Fan's rant gets Jalen Brunson, Knicks fired up in stunning 21-point comeback win vs Heat: "This is embarrassing"

Jalen Brunson revealed on Friday night that he took to heart what a New York Knicks fan told him as their NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Miami Heat at the Madison Square Garden in New York City was ongoing. According to Brunson, the fan expressed his disgust when the Knicks were down by 21 points against the Heat.

Brunson relayed what the fan said during the post-game interview:

"Honestly, a fan looked at me in my eye and said, 'This is embarrassing.'"

Jalen Brunson, Knicks rally to beat Heat

Since the fan expressed his embarrassment probably on behalf of 19,812 paying patrons at the Madison Square Garden over their performance in the third quarter of their NBA In-Season Tournament game against the Miami Heat, the New York Knicks took flight and stormed back to take the 100-98 home win.

Up by one, 51-50, at half-time, the Knicks found themselves in a deep hole to open the third period as the Heat went on a 19-0 run to go up, 69-51, with 7:33 remaining in the quarter.

The Miami Heat eventually opened an 83-62 lead following a 3-point play from Jimmy Butler with 3:40 to play in the third.

The Knicks rolled to a 9-2 run to trim the gap to 14 before Butler hit another layup to give the Heat an 87-71 cushion entering the fourth quarter.

While Josh Richardson began the fourth with a long two to up the Miami Heat's lead to 18, 89-71, the New York Knicks went on a 28-7 run capped by Jalen Brunson's stepback jumper to take a 99-96 lead with 1:24 left.

Bam Adebayo kept the Miami Heat in the game with two free throws with 15 seconds to go even as Jalen Brunson still kept the door open for the Heat as he only made 1-for-2 in his own trip to the charity stripe, Butler missed a stepback three as time expired.

Jalen Brunson, who finished with 24 points on 10-for-16 shooting, three rebounds and three assists, said:

"We just stuck together."

Immanuel Quickley added 20 points on 4-of-8 threes, four rebounds, two assists, and one block for the New York Knicks, who moved up to 9-6 in the regular season.

Butler led the Heat, who dropped to 10-6, with 23 points on 7-of-14 field goals including 3-of-5 from deep, two rebounds, three assists, and one steal. Adebayo added 21 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, and two steals.

With the win, the New York Knicks are now tied with the Miami Heat at 2-1 in East Group B, just behind the 3-0 Milwaukee Bucks, who beat the Washington Wizards behind Brook Lopez's career game.

However, the Knicks hold the tiebreaker over the Heat, which means the Knicks have a better shot at advancing further in the NBA In-Season Tournament at least through the wildcard phase.

Miami must beat Milwaukee in their final NBA In-Season Tournament group stage game to keep their hopes alive.