After extending the series with Sunday's win, the New York Knicks lost Wednesday to the Miami Heat, losing the series in five games and making it 12 straight seasons since last winning a playoff series.
The winless stretch is the second-longest in Knicks franchise history, succeeded only by a 15-season span from 1954-68.
Sunday's win only seemed to temporarily stave off the inevitable. It was a series almost entirely dominated by the Heat.
In their four losses, the Knicks lost each by double digits and were outscored by a combined 70 points. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the negative 14-point average scoring margin is New York's second worst in a best-of-7 playoff series in postseason history.
Worst Average Scoring Margin
Knicks Playoff History
The Knicks struggled to move the ball in Game 5, recording just 13 assists on 36 made field goals (36.1 percent), their worst team assist percentage this season.
They struggled to get easy baskets all series, with three of the games ranking among their worst assist percentage games of the season.
Additionally, the Carmelo Anthony/Amare Stoudemire project continues to produce mixed results.
In the past 2 seasons, including the playoffs, the Knicks have gone just 31-40 with both Anthony and Stoudemire in the lineup, including 1-7 in the postseason. When it's just been Stoudemire, the Knicks are a .500 team; they're 13-7 in games where just Anthony has been in the lineup.
Helping expedite the Knicks' playoff exit was LeBron James, who led the Heat with 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in Game 5. James improved to 7-0 all-time in first-round playoff series.
Highest PPG, Potential Series Clinchers
NBA History
James inched his scoring average in potential series clinchers up to 28.3, the fifth-best mark in NBA history (minimum 10 games).
Awaiting the Heat are the Indiana Pacers, against whom the Heat had success, taking three of four regular-season meetings. Indiana struggled offensively in those games, averaging 92.3 points in the four games, shooting 40.4 percent from the field.
The Heat and Pacers have met just one other time in the playoffs: the 2004 Eastern Conference Semifinals, which the Pacers won in six games.