At times, the lead was fragile. The shooting ceased abruptly. Building tension increased. The Miami Heat occasionally appeared to be heading for trouble at certain points.
And once more, they succeeded. The eighth-seeded Heat’s unusual journey goes on, and Miami is on the verge of earning a repeat trip to the Eastern Conference finals.
The Heat defeated the New York Knicks 109-101 on Monday night thanks to performances from Jimmy Butler (27 points, 10 assists), Bam Adebayo (23 points, 13 rebounds), and other players.
We held home court, which was fantastic,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. But we are aware of our task in New York.
They’ll go into Game 5 of the East Semifinal series with a 3-1 advantage, and with a victory, they’ll go to the conference finals for the third time in four years.
Butler stated, “We have a job to do, and I think we’re very capable.”
For the Heat, Max Strus had 16 points, Kyle Lowry had 15, and Caleb Martin had 10. In the 40th season of the NBA playoffs, Miami became just the fourth No. 8 seed to win at least seven games. The Knicks had 12 victories in 1999.
For fifth-seeded New York, Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points and 11 assists, RJ Barrett had 24 points and Julius Randle had 20 points before fouling out with roughly three minutes remaining for the Knicks.
To win a series, you need four victories, according to Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau. So, winning the next game is what we’re focused on.
Follow the quarters. Win the opening period, the second period, the third period, and the fourth period. After that, we’ll consider the following day.
Miami missed 12 of its first 15 attempts in the fourth quarter, but the Knicks weren’t able to fully capitalize on it, cutting only three points off the Heat lead during that time.
However, Martin’s slam gave the restless building some life, and a minute or so later, the roars became slightly louder.
With 3:08 remaining and the Knicks trailing by seven points, Randle moved into the lane but Strus beat him to the basket, drawing contact that led to the New York star’s sixth foul. The Heat maintained dominance throughout.
