Lars Hauggaard
Heat Beat Knicks in Miami, Pushes Lead to 3-1
Miami won game 4 to fully capitalise on their game 1 road victory to extend their lead to 3-1. Though things are admittedly looking bleak for New York, let's dive into how the lead came to be and what the Knicks need to do to stay in this.
Game 4 of the Knicks-Heat series saw the extension of Miami’s lead, making every game ahead of the Knicks a must-win situation. Though New York has 2 potential home games left in the series, it is worth noting that only 13 teams in NBA history have come back from a 3-1 deficit.
It seems like New York struggled to overcome the lead that Miami established in the 2nd quarter. Though a 3rd quarter RJ Barrett 3 closed the gap to 2, the moments where the Knicks seemed like they could rally back were few and far between.
The majority of New York’s production expectedly came from their 1, 3, and 4 spots, as Brunson, Barrett, and Randle all notched over 20 points on good shooting efficiency. Brunson went as far as posting a 32-point double-double with only a turnover to show for it while Barrett had an ultra-efficient 24 points. The only blemish as far as this big 3 goes is seen in Randle’s 6 turnovers. Aside from this, it seems like this was a game that was lost by the 2nd unit.
On the Heat’s side of things, the 8th seed continues to surprise and is on the verge of reaching their third conference final in four years. This is expectedly coming from an increase in production from Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo following Tyler Herro’s 1st round hand injury. In game 4, both posted a 23+ point double-double, with Adebayo grabbing 13 rebounds and Butler dishing out 10 assists on good efficiency.
The series moving forward looks fairly bleak for the Knicks, as they will have to be locked in for 3 straight games to keep any title hopes alive.
Overall, it seems like consistent production from the starting unit as well as a step-up in offense from the bench are the only things that will see the Knicks coming back from such a deficit.