May 9, 2023 (Jack87 News) – The second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs continued. The Heat, with a 2-1 lead, played against the Knicks at home in Miami BK8. In this campaign, Tyler Herro and Victor Oladipo were absent from the Heat, while Butler continued to start. For the Knicks, Quikley was unable to play due to injury. After 4 quarters of fierce fighting, the Heat defeated the Knicks 109-101, being the only match with 3-1 score in the series.
The score of the two sides in four quarters (Knicks first): 30-31, 18-25, 33-34, 20-19
Heat Player Stats: Butler 27 points, 6 rebounds and 10 assists, Adebayo 23 points and 13 rebounds, Lowry 15 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, Love 8 points and 5 rebounds, Struth 16 points and 6 rebounds, Caleb Martin 10 points and 5 rebounds
Knicks Player Stats: Brunson 32 points, 4 rebounds and 11 assists, Randall 20 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists, Barrett 24 points, Mitchell Robinson 6 points and 7 rebounds, Hart 4 points, Grimes 9 points and 5 rebounds
At the beginning of the game, the rhythm of the two sides was tight, until 11 minutes and 03 seconds came when Butler hit a three-pointer to open the scoring. Then the scores of the two sides rose alternately. For the Heat, Bet99 Butler and Adebayo scored all the points, and it wasn’t until 4 minutes and 37 seconds that Love hit a three-pointer posing as the third man to score. The two teams refused to give in to each other, and neither of them widened the point difference. Lowry made a goal at the buzzer, and the Heat slightly led the Knicks 31-30 in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Heat widened the point difference through a series of goals,leading against the Knicks by 9 points. Then the two teams began to increase their defensive strength, blocked shots and defensive rebounds frequently, and the scoring efficiency of the two teams declined accordingly. Adebayo scored 2+1 with a hook to break the record. Struth then hit a three-pointer, and extended the lead to 10 points. Although the Knicks then responded with a goal, the Heat still ended the first half with a 56-48 lead.
Changing sides to fight again, Butler began to take over the game, continuously breaking through a score. Then Barrett and Brunson responded, narrowing the double-digit point difference to 2 points. But Love and Struth’s three-pointers made a clearance for the Heat again, quickly opening up the point difference. At the end of the third quarter, the Knicks still trailed the Heat 81-90.
In the last quarter, the two sides still played at a tight pace. The Knicks completed a steal and counterattack to stop the Heat. But after the timeout, the Knicks’ offense was cut off, Brunson and Randle missed consecutive shots, and Barrett’s layup was ruthlessly blocked by Butler 22Bet. At 3 minutes and 52 seconds, Brunson scored 6 points in a row to help the team narrow the point difference, but then Randle and Hart both graduated with 6 fouls and left the field. In the end, the Heat withstood the Knicks 109-101, having a huge advantage of 3-1 in the series.
