Miami wins in New York with style and recovers the advantage of the field from game 1

There was everything for the party to be beautiful, Sunday, in New York. Back in the second round of the play-offs for the first time in eleven years, the Knicks welcomed the Heat in an incandescent Madison Square Garden, under the benevolent eye of local legends Allan Houston and Patrick Ewing, warmly applauded at their presentation.

But that was without counting on Jimmy Butler (33) and the Heat, determined to play a nasty trick on Tom Thibodeau and his men, after having done the same in the previous round against Milwaukee (Miami won the series 4 -1). “We tried to make it difficult for Jimmy, but hey… He’s a great player”declared “Thibs”, almost disillusioned, after the meeting.

If he finished as the game’s top scorer with 25 points and added 11 rebounds, Jimmy Butler was also able to count on the work of his teammates, like the two leaders Gabe Vincent and Kyle Lowry, 38 points between them. The Heat finally won at the Garden (101-108), and regained the advantage at the start of the series.

Lowry and Vincent combine 38 points

It was not necessary to count on Jimmy Butler to rest on Saturday evening, on the eve of this decisive meeting in the play-offs. No, the Miami winger preferred to spend the evening training alone at a gym in Manhattan, where he posted himself on Instagram at midnight taking shots. The routine of a hard worker, who was once again one of the first to set foot on the Madison Square Garden floor this Sunday, an hour and a half before kickoff.

The Heat, surprising first-round knockout Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks, came into the game softly, quickly trailing ten points. Knicks guard Josh Hart (28) did everything to make life difficult for Butler, throwing himself on every ball and forcing his opposite to play with his partners.

After a difficult first half to shoot (less than 20% behind the arc), Miami accelerated in the second act under the impulse of “Jimmy Buckets”, twice at the conclusion of passes that crossed the entire field to surprise the Knicks. Butler also inspired his teammates, as Gabe Vincent (26) added several game-winning shots, including one that took his side to a five-point lead with four minutes remaining in the third quarter.

The point guard, undrafted in 2018, finished the game with 20 points and 5 assists. Disappointing so far in the play-offs, veteran Kyle Lowry (37) also had a great game by finishing with 18 points at 41.7% shooting success.

“The important thing was to finish well. I tried to do my best, even if I was not in good shape”, Jimmy Butler told journalists after the game, he who twisted his ankle on contact with Josh Hart five minutes from the end. Back in the locker room, the 33-year-old had great difficulty moving around on his own. That did not prevent him from displaying a broad smile, and celebrating the victory by plugging in a loudspeaker spitting out the sounds of country music.

New York mourns Randle’s absence

The atmosphere was less festive on the side of the Knicks, where Tom Thibodeau was already grimacing before the match, when announcing the package of Julius Randle (28), injured in an ankle. Without its leading scorer (25.1 points this season), New York seemed to run out of offensive solutions in the game, relying too often on the individual exploits of RJ Barrett (26 points) and Jalen Brunson (25).

Success fled the Knicks in the second half, with a disastrous 18% behind the arc. Thibodeau’s players also lost their nerves, like Brunson, who suffered a technical foul for a referee challenge at the end of the third quarter. “We have to be better at shooting, better at rebounding and making fewer mistakes than that. We can’t afford to give them 21 free throws.”summarized Thibodeau after the match, particularly upset against his players.

The Knicks will have the opportunity to redeem themselves at home in Game 2, which takes place Tuesday night through Wednesday. A meeting that could be played without Jimmy Butler. “It’s too early to know. An ankle twist is tricky… I’m not even sure I’ll know more tomorrow (Monday) »confided his coach Erik Spoelstra after the match.