Miami Heat defeat New York Knicks 109-101 to take commanding 3-1 lead

Jimmy Butler had 27 points and 10 assists, Bam Adebayo finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds, and the Miami Heat pushed away a victory from their third trip to the Eastern Conference Finals in the last four years by beating the New York Knicks 109-101. defeat. Monday night.

Max Strus scored 16 points, Kyle Lowry added 15 and Caleb Martin had 10 for the Heat. Miami, the No. 8 seed, leads the East semifinal series 3-1, with Game 5 – and the first potential clincher – awaiting Wednesday night in New York.

Jalen Brunson finished with 32 points and 11 assists for fifth-seeded New York, while RJ Barrett had 24 points and Julius Randle scored 20 for the Knicks before fouling out with about three minutes left in the game.

Miami missed 12 of the first 15 shots of the fourth quarter, but the Knicks failed to take full advantage, cutting just three points off the Heat lead in that span.

It was nine going into the fourth, and a pair of free throws from Brunson with 4:40 left put New York within 99–93.

Jimmy Butler led the way for the Heat with 27 points to continue his dominant postseason

Jalen Brunson had a team-high 32 points for New York in the crucial Game 4 loss

But a punch from Martin breathed some life into an antsy building, and about a minute later the roar got a little louder.

With the Knicks down by seven, Randle went into court – but Strus beat him on the spot and made contact that became the New York star’s sixth foul with 3:08 left, and the Heat held control the rest of the way.

Randle gave a blunt assessment of New York’s play after the game, saying, “Maybe they want it more.” Don’t know. That’s who we’ve been all year and we need to find a way to step forward and make those moves if we want to keep this season alive.”

The Knicks never led in Game 3 and then led twice in Game 4.

Hardly.

They held a pair of one-point lead in the first quarter, for a combined 33 seconds, and Miami was able to clear the deficit with immediate baskets on the next possession.

Julius Randle and RJ Barrett were the only other two Knicks to score more than 10 points

But unlike Game 3, when Miami’s lead was in double digits for almost all of the last three quarters, it remained in doubt much of the way.

Miami didn’t get its first 10-point lead until a 3-pointer from Strus with 3:23 left in the half, and whenever the Heat seemed ready to pull away, New York had an answer.

The Knicks cut an 11-point deficit to 67–65 on a 3-pointer by Barrett with 7:07 left in the third, but never quite got over the hump.

An 8–1 spurt over a two-minute span late in the third restored the 11-point lead, and Miami’s tie was 90–81 going into the fourth.