After the Miami Heat stunned the Milwaukee Bucks in five games in the Eastern Conference first round series, one needed to question if they had anything more left in the tank against the New York Knicks. Well, so far so good for south Florida’s National Basketball Association franchise.
In game four on Monday night, the Heat came through with a 109-101 win over the New York Knicks. With the victory, the Heat took a three games to one series lead in the best out of seven Eastern Conference second round series.
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Now there is no doubt the Heat have got lucky when it comes to the playoff schedule. They have got to face the rather easier opponent in New York rather than the second seed Boston or third seed Philadelphia.
Where Miami is making an impact is their all-round team defense. Nine Heat players had a defensive board in game four, with center Bam Adebayo of Newark, New Jersey leading the way with 10 defensive rebounds. Miami’s first round pick in the 2017 NBA Draft had 13 rebounds overall, and now has 61 defensive rebounds and 84 total rebounds in nine postseason games so far.
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The Knicks core group meanwhile just seams out of sync. Despite scoring a combined 76 points in game four, Jalen Brunson, Julius Randle and RJ Barrett were a -13.
New York also must have significant concerns with their overall team production because their bench is simply not producing. They only had 10 points in game four, while the Heat non-starters scored 32. Kyle Lowry of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania scored 15 points and forward Caleb Martin of Winston-Salem, North Carolina scored 10 points. The Heat can close out the series on Wednesday with a game five win at Madison Square Garden.
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