Knicks Have No Answer for Hobbled Butler and Heat
HEAT 108 – KNICKS 101
The atmosphere was perfect.
The famous faces were all over the place.
From Spike Lee to Ben Stiller; Alex Rodriguez to Aaron Rodgers; and, the old guard of former Knicks and Heat players like Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Alonzo Mourning and the orchestrator of this rivalry, Pat Riley, were all in the house at MSG.
New #Jets QB Aaron Rodgers is at the Knicks game a day after attending the Rangers game.
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) April 30, 2023
Embracing the New York atmosphere.pic.twitter.com/xb8nT7zGUs
Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning & Pat Riley at Knicks-Heat Game 1 in the Garden pic.twitter.com/vybox97I0X
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) April 30, 2023
And in the throngs of spectators watched as this current version of the Knicks collapse in the second half in major part to poor shooting and bad fouls as the Miami Heat pulled away 108-101 to take a 1-0 lead in this best-of-seven series.
Jimmy Butler, who slipped on his ankle with five minutes to go in the game only to return two minutes later, was impossible to stop. He willed the Heat to victory with 25-points and 11 boards, while Bam Adebayo had 16-points and eight boards, and Gabe Vincent added 20-points of his own. Kyle Lowry contributed 18-points off the bench for Miami.
The Heat trailed New York by 11-points after the first quarter, thanks in major part to inspired play by R.J. Barrett who had 11 points in the quarter for the Knicks.
Jimmy Butler and Gabe Vincent come up big to help lead Miami to a 1-0 series lead!
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2023
Butler 25 PTS, 11 REB, 4 AST, 2 STL
Vincent: 20 PTS, 5 AST, 5 3PM
Game 2: Tuesday, 7:30 PM ET, TNT pic.twitter.com/3uM8gsIBx8
Then things started to go south for New York come the second half. The misses became more prevalent and painful. Midway through the third quarter, Brunson and Barrett missed back-to-back three pointers before Butler hit a bucket to cut the Knicks lead down to three-points, 61-58.
After Josh Hart was stripped of the ball, the Heat turned it into three as Max Strus hit a 24-foot three-pointer, tying the game at 61.
Later Adebayo and Butler would combine for three consecutive buckets for Miami as the Heat started to pull away 74-66 in the third quarter.
New York was able to trim the Maimi lead to three-points, but Gabe Vincent’s three-pointer with 4:24 to go, combined by Kyle Lowry’s epic block of Brunson’s shot, proved to be the Knicks ultimate undoing.
When it was all said and done, Knicks players not named Obi Toppin were a combined 1-for-16 from downtown.
Kyle Lowry was CLUTCH in the Game 1 win!
— NBA (@NBA) April 30, 2023
18 points
6 assists
4 BLOCKS 🔒
MIA/NYK Game 2: Tuesday, 7:30pm/et, TNT pic.twitter.com/04r9zegULi
Game two is Tuesday night at MSG. Get ready to rock.
