After splitting two games, the Miami Heat entered Game 3 with homecourt advantage. The New York Knicks were looking to regain their homecourt advantage. However, Miami had different plans. The Heat set the tone early in the game with paint attacks and physical defense. They dominated both ends from start to finish. The Knicks made it a little interesting late in the fourth quarter, but Miami ended up sealing the victory. With the win, Miami moves to 2-1 in the series. Here are my takeaways from Miami’s victory over New York.
Butler Back
Jimmy Butler sat out the Heat’s Game 2 lost against the Knicks with his ankle injury. With five days of rest, Butler was back in action on Saturday. He clearly looked healthy and spry. He was aggressive in his paint attacks and the jumpers were falling as well. He set the tone for Miami with his early aggressiveness. Butler, however, appeared to aggravate his ankle injury after a drive to the basket in the third period. He still played through the rest of the way despite the injury. Overall, the Heat’s best player was exceptional on both ends of the floor. He even pulled off a reverse jam that didn’t count. Butler finished with 28 points.
Bam’s Physicality
Bam Adebayo‘s impact has been a constant debate among Heat fans in social media. There has been frustration over his lack of high scoring in this year’s playoffs. Especially after a dominant scoring burst in the first half of the season. Adebayo didn’t score over 20 points in Game 3 but his impact was felt. Defensively, Adebayo slowed down Julius Randle, who scored 10 points in the game. And he was doing it mostly with single coverages. He held Randle to just 2-9 shooting as the primary defender. Additionally, Adebayo attacked the glass against the Knicks 7-footers. He was literally everywhere on the floor with his impact on Saturday. Adebayo finished the day with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Non-Jimmy and Bam Minutes
When both Butler and Adebayo are not on the floor, that usually spells trouble for the Heat. There’s been multiple times this season where the Heat have lost leads with both sitting on the bench. However, Game 3 was a different story. The Heat went without both stars to start the second quarter. And Miami pushed the lead from eight to 18. Alot of that has to do with Kyle Lowry leading the second unit. Lowry got the team into their sets, fed teammates for open shots, and got to the basket. He had a nice pick and roll action with Cody Zeller during that time as well. The fact that unit pushed the lead up without their two stars was certainly encouraging. They’re going to continue to need it the rest of the way.
Poor Shooting
Even though Miami won the game by double digits, it certainly wasn’t because of their three-point shooting. As a team, Miami shot 21.9 percent from downtown. Usually, that would spell trouble for the Heat’s offense. But yet, Miami still put-up points on the board. Of course, there were timely three-pointers along the way. Still, it was certainly surprising how Miami remained ahead big despite the poor shooting. You could point to the Knicks poor three-point shooting as a reason too. Some of the shots the Knicks were taking were horrendous. But give credit to the Heat’s defense too. They certainly did their job in Game 3.
Next up: Game 4 on Monday. Game tips off at 7:30pm eastern time.
