Jalen Brunson, Barrett Bounce-Back Energize Knicks Fans in Win vs. Mitchell, Cavs

The whispers of RJ Barrett's demise were a bit premature.

After struggling mightily in the first two games of the New York Knicks' playoff series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the fourth-year swingman showed up in a big way as he helped the lead the charge in a pivotal 99-79 Game 3 win for New York.

Barrett finished with 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and three assists on 8-of-12 shooting from the field in front of a rocking crowd at Madison Square Garden that was loving every second of his performance.

It was a Knicks fanbase that was bashing him after he went a combined 6-of-25 from the field over the first two games of the series. But he showed up when the team needed him most on a night in which offense was hard to come by.

Barrett came out aggressive from the jump as he scored 14 of his points in the first half, and the Knicks took a 13-point lead into the locker room.

He cooled down a bit in the second half but was still all over the floor, finding an open teammate or grabbing a key rebound as New York pulled away to take a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference series.

While they were sure to rip Barrett when he wasn't performing, Knicks fans gave him his flowers on Twitter following the huge win.

In addition to Barrett, Jalen Brunson's performance was also a welcome sight after the star guard went 5-of-17 from the field in the Game 2 loss in Cleveland.

Brunson finished with a team-high 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting Friday and did a lot of his damage down the stretch as New York put the game out of reach.

He's done a great job of combating Cleveland's elite backcourt of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland over the first few games of the series and will continue to be crucial if the Knicks are going to advance.

The night was so good for the Knicks that Derrick Rose saw a few minutes of action, which had the crowd at MSG going wild late in the fourth quarter.

With the win, New York is just two victories away from its first appearance in the second round of the playoffs in a decade. The last time it made it that far was in 2013, when it was led by Carmelo Anthony and JR Smith.

The Knicks will have a chance to put a chokehold on the series in Game 4 on Sunday. Tipoff is at 1 p.m. ET.