FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE GARDEN: RIOTS TAKE 3-2 LEAD WITH 72-61 WIN

The comeback was no longer a comeback story.

By Game 5, it had become a series takeover.

The Newark Riots returned to Madison Square Garden on Friday night with the first-round series tied 2-2 and a chance to prove that Game 3 and Game 4 were more than an emotional surge. Two hours later, the Riots had their first series lead.

Newark beat the New York Knicks 72-61, won a third straight game after opening the matchup 0-2 and moved one victory from eliminating Oliver’s top-seeded team.

It did not happen because Newark shot the lights out from the opening tip. In fact, the Knicks were the better shooting team for much of the night and led 28-22 at halftime. New York entered the break with the advantage while Newark had managed only seven points in the second quarter.

Then the game changed.

The Riots scored 23 in the third quarter and 27 in the fourth. They entered the final period still down 49-45, then buried New York under a 27-12 closing quarter. Newark scored 50 second-half points after producing only 22 in the first half.

The pressure defense that had been building since Game 3 became the defining force of Game 5. New York committed 18 turnovers. Newark committed only seven. The Riots finished with 13 steals to the Knicks’ seven and turned those extra possessions into a 20-9 advantage in points off turnovers.

That possession gap mattered because New York actually shot 53.1 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from three. This was not a game the Knicks lost because they could not make shots. They lost because they could not keep the ball long enough for the shooting percentages to matter.

Newark shot 51.7 percent itself, made nine threes and moved the ball for 27 assists on 31 field goals. The Riots also crushed the bench battle 51-21. Every shift seemed to give Newark another ballhandler, another defender or another player capable of extending the pressure.

Damian Lillard earned Player of the Game after giving Newark the cleanest scoring punch of the night. Dame finished with 10 points and three assists, went 4-for-7 from the field and hit two of his three attempts from deep. In a game where the Riots needed somebody to ignite the offense, Lillard supplied the spark.

Michael Ray Richardson controlled the other end. Crack finished with five points, five assists, five steals and zero turnovers, earning the defensive game ball. It was the kind of line that explained Newark’s whole night: pressure without recklessness, creation without waste.

Kyrie Irving added seven points and a game-high seven assists. Bobby Portis Jr. scored eight, grabbed two steals and finished a game-best plus-14. Josh Hart, whose Game 3 shot changed the emotional temperature of the series, added seven points and two assists without a turnover. Jaylen Brown followed his Game 4 performance with nine points in another balanced Newark effort.

The Knicks still got production from Nikola Jokic, who led New York with 15 points and seven rebounds. Carmelo Anthony scored 11 and made three threes. Tyler Herro added eight points and three assists.

But New York could not turn those numbers into control. The Knicks’ 18 turnovers kept feeding the game Newark wanted to play, and the fourth quarter finally broke open.

That was the larger difference between the first two games and the next three.

New York had won Game 1 and Game 2 by two points each while Newark wasted possessions, missed chances and found ways to lose close games. Game 3 gave the Riots belief. Game 4 gave them structure. Game 5 gave them the series lead.

The Knicks were still alive.

But for the first time all series, they were the team chasing Newark.