Jimmy Butler led the Heat again on Sunday and led the victory against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden (108-101) with 25 points in Game 1 of the NBA East Semifinals, in which leader Miami overcame suffered a sprained right ankle. in the fourth trimester.
The Knicks, who finished fifth in the conference in the regular season, had eliminated the Cleveland Cavaliers; while the eighth-placed Heat unexpectedly ended the West’s leaders, the Milwaukee Bucks, thanks to Butler’s 37.6-point series average and game-winning field goals.
The Heat leader had a double-double of 25 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals; while Gabe Vincent had 20 points, 2 rebounds, 5 assists and a steal. Kyle Lowry, coming off the bench, contributed 18 points and Ben Adebayo, 16.
The picture of the game, however, was Butler’s badly twisted ankle with five minutes left in the fourth quarter after an unintentional collision with Josh Hart. He remained prone on the ground, but managed to stay on the track, albeit regardless of his team’s actions.
For the Knicks, RJ Barrett had 26 points, 9 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal; Jalen Brunson added 25 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists and a steal. Obi Toppin added 18 points and Josh Hart 10. Mitchell Robinson scored 7 points and recovered 14 balls and put up 2 hats.
The locals were particularly unsuccessful in triples (7 of 34) and free throws (60%).
KNICKS FIRST HALF CONTROL
A tight Miami defense, with more luck on offense in the opening minutes, kept the Heat ahead on the scoreboard through the first half of the opening quarter and Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau called his first downtime, which ensued. .
A spectacular “alley oop” dunk from Robinson, assisted by Barrett, two free throws from Brunson and a foray from Hart, gave the Knicks the advantage for the first time in the game (16-15).
Three scorers from Barrett and Toppin gave the hosts a 9-point lead with one minute left in the quarter. After Toppin’s “alley oop” dunk assisted by Hart and another basket from German power forward Isaiah Hartenstein, the segment ended with the Knicks up 11 points (32-21).
The Heat’s tight defense early in the game leaked everywhere in the second quarter and the Knicks took advantage of every opening.
A dunk and lay-up from Butler, a basket from Martin and three free throws and a desperate three-pointer from a corner from Vincent (with 14 points so far) managed to reduce the Knicks’ lead to 7 three minutes and a half before reaching the break (47-40).
With 11 points from Butler and 14 from Vincent against 15 from Brunson and 13 from Barret, the luminous scored 55-50 at halftime.
BUTLER CONDUCTS HEAT
The second part of the game started with a frantic exchange of hits that ended in favor of the Heat who, including two triples from Max Strus, tied it at 61.
Another field goal from Strus, a triple from Love, a layup from Adebayo and two dunks and a tackle from Butler gave the Heat an 8-point lead shortly after the middle of the third quarter (66-74).
The Knicks react and reduce the Heat’s lead to 2 (72-74) who, despite Brunson’s 21 points so far, reached the end of the third quarter with a 6-point lead (75-81).
A dunk from Adebayo increased the Heat’s lead to 9 two minutes into the final quarter and Butler, on free throws, defended it seconds later.
A dunk from Robinson and another basket from Hart cut the gap to 3 with just under 6 minutes left in the final quarter (90-93).
It was then that Butler was injured, who however refused to leave the track. He hit two free kicks and kept the Knicks from gaining momentum.
A hat-trick from Vincent, a hook from Adebayo and a short shot from Lowry gave Miami a 10-point lead with 2.53 minutes remaining (94-104).
The Knicks, lacking in free throws and hat-tricks, could not react and the Heat won the first victory of the Western semi-final series (101-108).